Eighth grade students spent January and February studying the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance, a Black cultural movement in the 1920s and 1930s that focused on amplifying and celebrating Black voices. One legacy of the Harlem Renaissance has been the evolution of poetry slam, a form of competitive spoken word poetry. Last week, students crafted their own original poems using the Golden Shovel format, incorporating one line from any famous Harlem Renaissance poem. They also spent time studying videos of poetry slam performances, especially from Brave New Voices, the world’s biggest international teen poetry slam (where Team Boston/Massachusetts always does well).
This week, our poets performed their poems as spoken word. Some students chose to perform in the non-competitive open mic, while many others engaged in the competitive annual Belmont Day Poetry Slam. The top two winners of each English class’s slam then competed this morning at the Middle School Meeting. It was beautiful to hear our eighth grade poets be so vulnerable and genuine in their writing, and a joy to see their pride in performing!
– Emily Phan, eighth grade English teacher
