One of my freshman girls approached me yesterday. She told me about how she watched Sarah Kay’s TED talk about spoken word poetry and instantly was hooked. I was exited to hear this news, as my student also remarked that she “has never really liked poetry before.” In an attempt to latch on to this enthusiasm, I tweeted #engchat and asked for their help.

I’m creating this post to have a holding tank for the responses. Thanks for your replies, everyone!

Hey #engchat, I'm looking for videos of spoken word poetry appropriate for 9th grade. Already have Sarah Kay. Any suggestions? @grdodge

— Michelle Lampinen (@MichLampinen) April 10, 2014

And here are the responses!

@MichLampinen It's silly but Samuel L. Jackson did spoken word about Boy Meets World on the Tonight Show:)

— Katie Rice (@KM_Rice) April 10, 2014

.@thereadingzone @MichLampinen This is where I go with Joaquín Zihuatanejo EVERY TIME. Classroom Teacher. Slam Poet. Preview first.

— Paul W. Hankins (@PaulWHankins) April 10, 2014

.@thereadingzone @MichLampinen Of course, I lose cred and connection if I don't mention @TaylorMali here. My kids love Taylor's pieces.

— Paul W. Hankins (@PaulWHankins) April 10, 2014

@MichLampinen @grdodge Rollins. https://t.co/beSunF6N2z

— Doug Robertson (@TheWeirdTeacher) April 10, 2014

.@thereadingzone @MichLampinen And @Koyczan has the powerful "To This Day" piece that resonates with my kids. Again. Preview for your 9th's.

— Paul W. Hankins (@PaulWHankins) April 10, 2014

.@MichLampinen @grdodge You can find a lot of JZ on the web. I highly recommend the pieces, "Elephant" and "This is a Suit."

— Paul W. Hankins (@PaulWHankins) April 10, 2014

@MichLampinen @thereadingzone I've collected the DVDs of the past IWSP competitions. From these, I get some pretty good pieces for class.

— Paul W. Hankins (@PaulWHankins) April 10, 2014

@MichLampinen Also look into Dr. Michael Anthony Ingram at http://t.co/7B4xdBLZ64. I saw him live in college and still remember his power.

— Katie Rice (@KM_Rice) April 11, 2014

@MichLampinen Just looked again, the best come from the Button Poetry channel on @YouTube National Poetry Slams, ex: https://t.co/RLrcUzz4JH

— Al Brown (@HighTechAB) April 11, 2014

@MichLampinen @thereadingzone @grdodge Try SAYS. Sacramento Area Youth Speaks.

— Deanna LeBlanc (@DeannaLeb) April 11, 2014

@MichLampinen anything by Anis Mojgani! It will literally make her mind fantastical

— Q (@NamqOh) April 11, 2014

@grdodge @MichLampinen Hey Michelle! Check out @buttonpoetry on YouTube for some great videos. We like many of them! https://t.co/1MYAlDayNG

— DodgePoetryFestival (@DodgePoetryFest) April 11, 2014

@MichLampinen Michigan based spoken word poetry. Students could do research on a region to make their own? http://t.co/yuwMY4SaSl

— Korey Bradley (@Spartan_English) April 11, 2014