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.