Brave New Voices: The YOUTH SPEAKS Guide to Teaching Spoken Word Poetry » (New Edition)

In 1999, Jen Weiss piloted YOUTH SPEAKS in New York City and has been its director ever since. A nonprofit literary arts, education, and cultural resource center for teenagers in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City, YOUTH SPEAKS offers free and ongoing public performance and publication opportunities, after-school workshops, in-school presentations, and mentoring programs.

Scott Herndon is completing his Ph.D. in English at NYU and has been a mentor at YOUTH SPEAKS for three years. A nonprofit literary arts, education, and cultural resource center for teenagers in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City, YOUTH SPEAKS offers free and ongoing public performance and publication opportunities, after-school workshops, in-school presentations, and mentoring programs.

Over the last several years, YOUTH SPEAKS after-school poetry workshops have helped turn hundreds of student writers into passionate poets. And now, Jen Weiss, director of YOUTH SPEAKS New York, and Scott Herndon share some of the secrets of their success - enabling you to transform your poetry lessons into a dynamic learning environment, where students develop not only a passion for poetry, but clear and powerful expression.

Utilizing student examples from their spoken word poetry workshops, Weiss and Herndon present their methods and outline a practical five-week course that fosters poetic awareness by focusing on writing, self-reflection, and performance. Designed specifically for middle and high school English classrooms, Brave New Voices offers teachers an overview of spoken word poetry and explores the relationship between poetic forms, youth expression, and performance. Ultimately, teachers will discover guidelines for staging a teen poetry slam, enabling students to unlock their poetic passion in front of their peers.

Ultimately, Brave New Voices provides teachers with a "how-to" guide to staging a teen poetry slam, enabling students to unlock their poetic passion in front of their peers. For all levels of students and developing artists, from the shy to savvy, here is a way to spark a love of poetry. For students already composing poems, here is a way to help them take a powerful step forward in their growth as writers. And for teachers, here is a way to liberate poetry from dry textbooks by tapping the poetic potential within the next generation.

Rebecca Van Dan - VOYA

Young adult librarians and high school teachers thinking of hosting their first poetry event will be excited to see this new title. A guide to teaching oral poetry to teens, the book details the author's five-week course that culminates in a poetry slam. Writing exercises, workshop tips, and creative ideas are included, as well as poetry and comments from teens who have participated in the course. Although primarily useful as an introduction, experienced teachers still will appreciate the multicultural focus and ideas, such as incorporating hip-hop music and politics into the course. Insights into working with teens are helpful, and a list of popular teen poetry is particularly useful, although perhaps most applicable to inner-city teens. Sections such as The History of the Spoken Word give a fascinating idea of many influences on spoken poetry, but one wishes for a bit more detail. Nevertheless the amazing examples of teen poetry created in the workshops combined with the book's unique focus make this title well worth purchasing. Glossary. Biblio. 2001, Heinemann, 120p,