Snapshot 6.7. Poets in Society – Spoken Word Poetry and Youth Literacy
Integrated ELA and Performing Arts in Grade Seven (cont.)strongly about the success of this program that they collaboratively approach foundations and
the local city council to seek funding to further deepen community support of and involvement
with the project. They speak at city council meetings and write letters to foundations and
community organizations inviting them to their annual summit.CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy: RL.7.4; RL.7.5; W.7.4; SL.7.6; L.7.3
Related CA Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards:
7.5.1 Use theatrical skills to communicate concepts or ideas from other curriculum areas...
7.5.2 Demonstrate projection, vocal variety, diction, gesture, and confidence in an oral presentation.Sources
Adapted from
Sacramento Area Youth Speaks (SAYS). University of California, Davis.
Watson, Vajra M. 2012. Learning to Liberate: Community-Based Solutions to the Crisis in Urban Education. New
York: Routledge.
Watson, Vajra M. 2013. “Censoring Freedom: Community-Based Professional Development and the Politics of
Profanity.” Equity and Excellence in Education 46 (3): 387–410.Additional Information
Duncan-Andrade, Jeffrey M. R. and Ernest Morrell. 2008. The Art of Critical Pedagogy: Possibilities for Moving from
Theory to Practice in Urban Schools. New York: Peter Lang.
Examples of spoken word poetry performances:- Knowledge for College 5th Annual SAYS Summit 2013 (http://vimeo.com/73224895)
- Culture and Language Academy of Success (CLAS) School Video (http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=W3AbBFzIokg) - Brave New Voices (BNV) (http://youthspeaks.org/bravenewvoices) Spoken Word Movement and BNV Festival
Videos (http://youthspeaks.org/bravenewvoices/blog/) - SAYS spoken word poetry on the UC Davis Web site (http://studentaffairs.ucdavis.edu/equity/says/)
Using Language Conventions
As in prior grades, students in grade seven are expected to demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking, and they are expected
to demonstrate command of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
New to grade seven are the following standards:
L.7.1a. Explain the function of phrases and clauses in general and their function in specific
sentences.
L.7.1b. Choose among simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences to signal
differing relationships among ideas.L.7.1c. Place phrases and clauses within a sentence, recognizing and correcting misplaced and
dangling modifiers.L.7.2a. Use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives (e.g., It was a fascinating, enjoyable
movie but not He wore an old[,] green shirt.).Grade 7 Chapter 6 | 595