Slam Poetry

Hynes Charter School, Lakefront
7th Grade Social Studies + Slam Poetry
Sean Glazebrook / Alexandra Mossing / Christina Ramirez

7th grade students in Ms Mossing and Ms Ramirez’s 7th grade classes created poems for an in-class (and online!) poetry slam. We began with an exploration of the history of slam poetry and viewed a few examples of performances. After that, we first created our own poems about our beliefs and ideas for how to make the world a better place. We ended class by creating poems/performances in the character and from the perspective of James Madison and the choices he made in dealing with the War of 1812.

One student created a skeleton puppet for his performance and presented the following poem at our slam:

Surprise! I may look like bones and sticks

But I’ve been dead since 1836

My name is James sometimes called Jimmy Madison

I may be short but I make a great statesman

I helped write the Constitution and the Bill of Rights

Those are just a few of my many highlights

As Secretary of State we made a purchase from France

Doubled the size of America’s pants!

England and France were fighting a war that was brutal

I suggested America should embargo and try to stay neutral

My pal Jefferson left office and ended the embargo

The Brits, angry at the betrayal, still took our cargo

They even stole our potatoes, which taste great with gravy

Even worse they stole our people – to add to their navy!

The Brits supported the Natives who were here before

Those locals slew women and children with particular gore

England kept pushing my buttons with their hostile acts

I only wanted peace but they forced me to react

I issued a war proclamation but America wasn’t ready to fight

Congress kept my funding and armies small – a bit like my height

Commerce problems arose as the war raged on

Merchants couldn’t trade goods – even with a coupon!

Troops from Britain filled the White House with smoke

Forcing me to leave Washington or else I might choke

We all got tired of fighting so you know how that went

We ended the war with the Treaty of Ghent

The Battle of New Orleans was fought a bit late

But it showed the world that we could fight great

The Forgotten War should never have happened

Nothing really changed and many were saddened

I eventually died in 1836 in Montepelier

At the age of 85 from heart failure.

Arts Integration in action!