Learn Then Burn

We asked some of the best contemporary spoken word and slam poets to give us poems that would be
appropriate for the classroom.
A complaint we've heard from many teachers is that they would love to use spoken word in their classrooms but they
are afraid of getting in trouble. A bulk of spoken word poetry does have quite a few curses. After all, those poems
were meant to be read to a rowdy crowd of adults at a slam and not a class full of kids. The poems come from the
gut and sometimes an "F" bomb finds its way to the page. Unfortunately, this is what holds many teachers back from
using spoken word in their classes.
So behold! The creation of, Learn Then Burn .

You will not have to sift through this book with a highlighter to try and find the F's and the S's and the B's. We've
provided poems from national slam champs, world slam champs, fellow teachers, and poets we feel are the best of
what's around.

We've also included some lessons. Some of these lessons have been tested out in the classroom, some not. Feel free
to use these lessons as you see fit. Every teacher has their own style so please, do not feel like you have to use the
lessons verbatim. Simplify, expand, modify, do whatever you need to do. You know your class so teach the poems
the way that suits them best. The most important part is the poetry.