1. Express yourself through…

2. Some Ideas about Writing a Spoken Word Poem
Tell a Story - It can follow the same pattern as a conventional story: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
Start with a “gateway line,” a single line that captures your theme. For example:
“Do not keep the silence golden.”
“Looking past Earth.”
“Practice is failing on purpose.”

3. 3. Now that you have a gateway line, revisit the dramatic structure: What can I surround my line with? At this point you might make a list of a few plot options:
A little boy learning to ride a bike
A guy practicing how he’s going to start a conversation with the girl of his dreams
A girl exploring the definition of true beauty

4. 4. Write your first draft. For example, you decide to write a piece about an eight-year-old boy who decides to try to ride his bike without training wheels. Now, ask questions to expand that concept: What does he look like? Where is this? How long as he been trying to do this? Why is this important? Most importantly, why should my audience care about him? First draft: Age eight with skinned knees bleeding from the last attempt he pushes two blue wheels uphill. This time. Salt touches his tongue as he tilts his face towards the summit. This was his Everest. He was done training. The two wheels sat lifeless in the garage watching him from a distance. He believed that with enough speed he could roll forever. The extra weight only slowed him down. He fought to push the past crashes from his mind as he trudged up Mount Failure. This was his practice.

5. 5. Once you have a first draft, you may want to revise by adding some poetry devices and figurative language: rhyme, repetition, alliteration, personification, similes, metaphors, etc. Second draft: Age eight, and skinned knees pleading he pushes two blue wheels uphill. This time. Salt touches tongue as dirt-faced determination drives him to the summit. His Everest. Two training wheels cry abandoned. Concrete floors and walls lined with tools can get so lonely. He believed that with enough speed he could roll forever. Long enough to run the errands that his mother couldn’t. He fought to push past crashes and knee slashes from his mind as he scaled Mount Failure. This was his practice.

6. I Don't Understand Poems
Write a poem about something that you don’t understand

7. I Don't Understand Begin the poem with the following:
List three things you do not understand about the world or people.
Write one thing you do not understand most of all.
“Most of all, I do not understand…”
End the poem with an example of something you DO understand.

8. I Don't Understand
I DON'T UNDERSTAND why people dislike me    why people can't get along    why dogs are colorblind and cats
aren’t.
But most of all
why people are
prejudiced
why people must move away    why people argue over stupid
stuff why there are
wars.
What I understand most is…why trees grow    why birds chirp    why the sun shines    why the car goes Anita Pepper

10. Just because… Directions:
Describe yourself in the first line of the poem.
In the next three lines in each stanza describe what you are NOT.
In the final line restate the first line and add a tag directing the reader to do something.

11. Just because…
Just because I'm scared Don't laugh and giggle behind my head Don't kid and play when I'm not there Still ask me because I might play It doesn't mean I can't do it It doesn't give you the right to talk about me It doesn't stop me from having funJust because I'm scared Still tell me everything you did Can't wait until I get big Just because I'm scared -- please try to be my friend -Brandon Womack