Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Butterworth.

And I will be your English teacher for today.

And I'm so pleased that you have joined me for today's lesson, 'cause I'm really looking forward to it because today we are going to be thinking about planning and creating a slam poem.

And I really love slam poetry.

I think it's a really fun and engaging way to write and perform poems. So let's get started.

So in this lesson, you will effectively plan and write a slam poem.

Now, before we get started on the main part of the lesson, let's look at those all important keywords that will be popping up throughout.

These words are theme, refrain, internal rhyme, end rhyme, and conform.

Now a theme is a central idea or message in a piece of writing.

So as part of our planning, we will be considering and picking a theme for our poem.

Now a refrain is a repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song, typically at the end of a stanza.

So you might consider using a refrain in your slam poetry, 'cause it can be a really effective way to engage the audience.

We're also gonna be looking at rhymes.

So internal rhyme is when a word in the middle of a line of poetry rhymes with the word at the end or within the same line.

Now don't worry about that definition at the moment.

When we look at the examples later, I think it will become clearer.

And an end rhyme is when the last words of two or more lines of poetry sound the same.

So again, don't worry when we look at some examples later on in the lesson, I think it will become clearer.

And then finally, conform is to adhere to an established rules, structures, or styles within a specific genre or format.

So we're gonna think about how poems can conform to the conventions of slam poetry.

So the outline of our lesson looks like this.

We're gonna begin by planning a slam poem before moving on to writing a slam poem.

So let's begin.

So before you begin writing a slam poem, you need to decide on a theme or subject.

You need to know what you're going to be writing about.

Now, slam poem poetry often focuses on personal and social issues.

So this might be a good place to start and might be something you want to consider yourself.

So I'd like you to discuss, please, what could you write about in a slam poem or what might you choose to write about in a slam poem? So pause the video to give yourself time to discuss your answers to this question.

You may wish to sit and think quietly to yourself or even jot down some ideas.

But pause the video and off you go.

Thank you everyone.

Some really lovely ideas of themes coming out there.

Some of you have really thought about some important social issues as well as some things that are personal to you.

So I'm gonna give you some suggestions here.

So friendship might be an interesting thing to write about.

So you could highlight the importance of connections and the support between friends.

You could choose to write about courage and resilience.

So you could write about overcoming fears and challenges.

So it could be quite a motivational, inspirational poem.

And then finally, you might decide to write about something like dreams and aspirations.

So exploring, you could explore pursuing goals and following dreams. So again, if you want to use any of these themes, that's absolutely fine, or you may wish to use one of your own.

So true or false.

Slam poetry often focuses on personal and social issues.

Is that true or false? Come up with your answer now please.

Well done to everyone that said true, but you now need to explain why.

So why is it true that slam poetry often focuses on personal and social issues? Come up with your answer now please.

So hopefully you have something like this.

Slam poetry focuses on personal and social issues to create connection and understanding.

It can raise awareness and give a voice to those who are often overlooked.

So once you've thought about a theme or a subject for a poem, we need to start thinking about generating content.

And actually, this can be quite hard.

It can be difficult to get started, can't it? I know I've experienced that myself.

Now, one strategy that I like to use is called lifting a line.

And what this means is that you take a line or phrase from an already existing poem or text and use it in your own writing.

Now, some of you may have looked at Harry Baker's poem or seen his poem, "Where the Wild Things Are." Now, in this poem, Harry Baker actually uses the words and chants from Maurice Sendak's children's book of the same name.

So his poem is called "Where the Wild Things Are," and he even directly references that book.

And then within that poem, he uses words and lines from that book.

So in effect, Baker has lifted a line and we can do the same too.

Now, something I've discovered is that fairy tales can be a great source of lifted lines.

So let's look at an example.

So an example I like is "Fe-fi-fo-fum." It's very rhythmic, it's very interesting.

and very recognisable, to Fe-fi-fo-fum So I've thought about this line and I'm actually gonna use this to make an effective refrain.

So watch this.

Fe-fi-fo-fum, watch you rise, watch you run, Fe-fi-fo-fum, Chasing dreams 'til you're done.

So you can see how I lifting that line, it's given me my first part to work with.

And then all I've gotta come up with is those other lines.

So I've lifted my line and I've created something pretty good, I think.

So another example could be from another fairy story.

So mirror, mirror on the wall.

I've taken that and I'm just going to repeat it.

Mirror, mirror on the wall! Mirror, mirror on the wall! Mirror, mirror on the wall! Will you rise and never fall? So again, you can see how those lifted lines give you a great place to start.

You can repeat them, you can add to them.

So I would highly recommend trying lifting a line.

You can also look at poems that you may have studied already, or even songs can also be a good source too.

So don't be afraid to go and lift some lines from some other texts that you may have looked at.

So true or false, you should not, you should not use words or phrases from other texts when creating slam poems. Is that true or false? Come up with your answer now.

Well done to everyone that said that it's false.

But now we need to explain why.

So I'm gonna give you a few moments to think about your answer to why that answer is false.

So hopefully you said something along these lines that like the poet Harry Baker, using words from other texts can be effective in slam poetry.

They can be a fun and engaging source of content for a poem and really help you if you're a bit stuck at knowing where to start.

So don't be afraid to lift some lines from some other texts.

Okay, so now we're gonna think about planning a slam poem.

So I'd like you please to create a mind map to begin planning your slam poem.

So you'll need to include the theme or subject of your poem, any ideas that might link to the theme, any key vocabulary.

So you may want to go and look at a dictionary or thesaurus to help you.

Any lifted lines you may want to use and any devices you want to include as well.

So I'm going to show you an example to help you see what this can look like.

So you can see here that actually in the centre of my mind path, I've put the theme and the subject of the poem.

So I'm going to write about dreams and aspirations.

Now I've got some key ideas here.

So within that poem, I want to explore the importance of dreams. I want to talk about overcoming obstacles and visions of the future.

So I've already got those key ideas and a theme and subject to help get me started.

And then thinking about key words that I could use.

So I could use aspire, visionary, tenacity, audacity.

So I'm just thinking about some interesting vocabulary that I could potentially use as well.

I've thought about a lifted line.

So I'm actually going to use a lifted line from another poem.

So this is a William Blake poem and I'm going to use "Tiger, tiger burning bright," because again, it's a good way to start.

I can see that becoming a refrain and using that rhythm to help me get started.

And then as the devices, I'm gonna make sure I use alliteration and onomatopoeia, 'cause I know that they're important for slam poetry and also that repetition.

So I'm gonna make sure I include some repetition, whether it's in my refrain or maybe even in a stanza.

So this is what your aiming for with your mind map.

Okay, so ready to start planning? Excellent.

Pause the video and get your mind maps completed.

Off you go.

Excellent, wow.

These are sounding like some very promising poems. So really great ideas so far.

Well done.

So I just want to make sure that you check your mind maps just to make sure that we've got everything that we can on them.

So make sure you have included the theme or subject of your poem.

Very important.

'Cause we need to know what we're writing about.

Any ideas that link to that theme, any key vocabulary, any lifted lines and devices you want to include.

So pause a video just to give yourself time to check through that mind map and make sure it's an effective, as effective as it can be.

Pause the video and off you go.

Okay, so we have planned our slam poem and now it is time to move on to writing the slam poem.

So now we have a few ideas for a slam poem and we can start to consider the structure.

So we know what we wanna write about and we have an idea of some things that we want to include.

So you could, and you may wish to structure your poem like this.

So you might do a stanza, then a refrain, stanza, and then repeat that refrain at the end.

So remember, you could structure your refrain like this.

So the repetition of those first three lines.

So you can see A, A, A, and then that final line, line four, something different.

So I just want you to discuss please, what makes an effective refrain.

And have you written one before.

So pause a video so you can discuss those questions or think quietly to yourself.

Off you go.

Great, thank you for your suggestions everyone.

So I had some people mentioning the idea of repetition can be really effective, maybe using direct address to really connect with your audience and create that rapport.

Some of you talked about exclamatives as well, to really create that dynamic energy that we see in slam poetry.

And again, that creation of a refrain, that's almost like a chant to get the audience feeling involved.

So there's lots of things we can think about there when we're creating refrains.

So true or false, a refrain is only used once in a poem.

Is that true or false? Come up with your answer now.

Well done to everyone that said false, but now you need to explain why.

I'll give you a few moments so you can come up with your answer.

Okay, so hopefully you said something like a refrain is a repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song.

Typically at the end of a stanza.

In slam poetry, it can be used to encourage audience participation.

So it can be used several times throughout a poem.

So we have some lines of poetry here.

Let's just read them through together first.

Okay? Underneath the gleam, dreams seem to beam bright.

In the still of the night, the light feels just right.

I'd like you to discuss, please.

You might want to read them through again.

What do you notice about these lines of slam poetry? Pause the video to come up with your answers.

Off you go.

Okay, thank you everyone.

I think lots of you picked up that there's quite a lot of rhyming happening there.

There's some rhymes, but I want to really focus on the specific rhymes that are being used.

So you may have thought about the words within the line, within the lines, rhyming.

So gleams, dreams, beam and night, light, right.

So this is called an internal rhyme, because it's happening within the line.

So it's like inside the line, an internal rhyme.

So gleam, dreams, beam, internal inside the line, night, light, right.

Those words are still happening within the line and there is also end rhymes as well.

So you'll notice that bright and right happen at the end of the line.

And this type of rhyme is called an end rhyme.

So actually these two lines of poetry use both an internal and an end rhyme.

So before you begin writing your poem, you may want to consider some rhyming lines.

So you may want to have a play around or just think of some ideas for some rhyming words before you begin.

So let's look at some examples.

So you can see here we have an example of an end rhyme because it happens at the end of the line.

So let's read it through together.

Words are my weapons and I'm armed to the teeth, ready to slice through silence and spread my belief.

Okay, so teeth and belief.

We can see that end rhyme there.

Words are my weapons and I'm armed to the teeth, ready to slice through silence and spread my belief.

Okay, quite hard to say that one, but you can see how that end rhyme is happening there.

But you can also see how you can play around with some internal rhymes too.

And you can see that highlighted here.

With a flick of the wrist, the mist begins to twist.

With a flick of the wrist, the mist begins to twist.

So you've got wrist, mist, twist, making that internal rhyme there.

And you can see again how using these rhymes can really help the poem come to life.

It becomes really energetic dynamic, rhythmic, which again, will make it more, more engaging when you perform it.

Okay? So really think trying to include some end rhymes and internal rhymes in your own writing.

So what I would like you to do now is just to have a go at using some of these things.

So I'd like you to use the sentence starters to create some lines with both end and internal rhymes for your poems. So you've got some sentence starters there.

So really this is an opportunity for you just to have a go.

So remember as well that slam poetry is all about energy and fun.

So try out lots of different options.

It isn't about getting it perfect straight away, or the first thing you say being a hundred percent.

Just have a go and just see what flows out really and see what happens.

Okay? So when you are ready, use those sentence starters to help you and discuss with someone or jot down some ideas, some ideas from some end and internal rhymes.

Okay, pause the video.

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Thank you everyone for really having a go at creating those rhymes and just really embracing the challenge of slam poetry.

So well done.

Some really excellent things happening there.

So now I'd like you to decide on an answer please.

Which of the following answers is false? So you are looking for the false answer.

You need to pick A, B, or C now.

Okay, are we ready for the answer? Great, well done to everyone that picked C, this is false.

Slam poetry should follow a strict rhyme scheme.

Hopefully we know by now that slam poetry is all about fun, energy and engagement.

So it doesn't always have to follow a strict rhyme scheme, although using some rhymes can be a good thing to do.

Now when writing your slam poem, you may also want to think about the following conventions.

Okay? So in terms of sound, you may wish to include alliteration and onomatopoeia because they're really effective.

And in terms of structure, you may want to think about using some rhymes, some repetition, or even a refrain.

And I want you to think about these conventions when we look at the example of a slam poem in just a moment.

So here is the example of a slam poem.

So the second part is on the following slide, what I would like you to do is read the poem aloud.

So I'm going to read it aloud first of all.

So you may want to read aloud with me.

When we finish reading, you may wish to go back and read the poem aloud for yourself, but really just make sure you have a good experience in reading some slam poetry out loud.

So I'm gonna do it first.

So this is all about dreams and aspirations.

In the quiet of night, where my thoughts take flight, I chase dreams that shimmer, like stars burning bright.

Fe-fi-of-fum, I'm a giant in my mind, climbing mountains of doubt, leaving worries behind.

Let me hear your dreams, let them roar and rumble, through the noise and chaos, et's rise from the tumble.

In the hustle and the bustle, I'll dance through the fray, with whispers of wishes that won't fade away.

Pop! the bubble of fear, it bursts in a blast, with every brave step, I'm free at last.

Let me hear your dreams, let them roar and rumble.

Through the noise and the chaos, let's rise from the tumble.

Okay, so as I said, make sure you take an opportunity to read that poem aloud.

And then what I would like you to do is I'd like you to discuss the following questions.

What devices has the poem used and how does it conform to the conventions of slam poetry? So pause a video so you've got time to come up with your answers to the questions.

Think quietly to yourself or even jot down some ideas.

Pause the video, and off you go.

Okay, thank you for your suggestions everyone.

So you may have considered the following.

So thinking back to those conventions, you may have noticed the use of alliteration and onomatopoeia.

You may have also noticed rhyme, repetition, and the use of refrain.

Some of you also picked up on the lifted lines there.

There were definitely happening in there as well, weren't there? So there's lots of things that we have considered in this lesson so far being used in that example.

Okay, so for those of you listening carefully, you may already know the answer to this.

So the model poem uses the line fe-fi-fo-fum.

This is an example of A, B, or C.

Pick your answer now.

So those of you with, your careful listening ears on will have noticed that I gave you the answer to this a moment ago.

So hopefully you all picked up on the lifted line.

Well done everyone.

It is now over to you.

And I would like you now to write your very own slam poem.

So remember we did a lot of planning in task A, so use that mind map to help you.

And you may also wish to structure your poem like this.

So that first answer, your refrain, second stanza, and that repetition of the refrain.

I really cannot wait to see what you come up with.

So when you are ready, pause the video, and get writing your slam poems. Off you go.

Excellent work everyone.

And I really appreciate the effort that you are putting into writing this poetry.

Sometimes writing poetry can feel quite nerve wracking or feel quite difficult, but I think with slam poetry, we're really starting to find the fun and the interesting side of it.

So that's great.

Okay, so what I would like you to do now is just reread your poem and underline any of the following devices.

So have you used alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme, repetition, or refrain? So just underline any uses of those in your poem.

And then when you have finished that, I would like you to complete the reflection sentence.

My poem conforms to the conventions of slam poetry.

So you can use your findings from that grid to help you.

Okay, so when you are ready, pause the video and revisit your poems. Off you go.

Well done everyone.

You can now officially call yourself slam poets by writing those excellent poems. So really well done.

So let's just remind ourselves of everything we have done.

We know that planning is an important part of the writing process.

We know that when planning a slam poem, you can consider your theme and key ideas to help you get started.

Lifted lines can be used to create interest and to help develop content.

And that both end and internal rhymes can be used effectively in slam poetry.

So again, thank you so much for your efforts today.

I have really enjoyed it and I hope you have too.

So I'll see you again soon.

Goodbye.