We asked some of the best contemporary spoken word and slam poets to give us poems that would beappropriate for the classroom.A complaint we've heard from many teachers is that they would love to use spoken word in their classrooms but theyare afraid of getting in trouble. A bulk of spoken word poetry does have quite a few curses. After all, those poemswere meant to be read to a rowdy crowd of adults at a slam and not a class full of kids. The poems come from thegut and sometimes an "F" bomb finds its way to the page. Unfortunately, this is what holds many teachers back fromusing spoken word in their classes.So behold! The creation of, Learn Then Burn.You will not have to sift through this book with a highlighter to try and find the F's and the S's and the B's. We'veprovided poems from national slam champs, world slam champs, fellow teachers, and poets we feel are the best ofwhat's around.We've also included some lessons. Some of these lessons have been tested out in the classroom, some not. Feel freeto use these lessons as you see fit. Every teacher has their own style so please, do not feel like you have to use thelessons verbatim. Simplify, expand, modify, do whatever you need to do. You know your class so teach the poemsthe way that suits them best. The most important part is the poetry.