On this page, you can find lesson plans and teaching materials for incorporating spoken word poetry in the English as a Foreign Language classroom at upper secondary level. These materials, which were used in classrooms around Vienna, were developed by student teachers at the University of Vienna in the winter term of 2025/2026, under the instruction of Claire Palzer of the Poetry Off the Page team. A short editorial, a summary of the lesson plans, and testimonials from student and host teachers can be found below as well.

Spoken word poetry brings a distinctive and highly valuable dimension to classroom learning by centering student voice, lived experience, and authentic expression.

– Petra Csögl (Host Teacher)

Spoken Word Poetry in the EFL Classroom – Editorial

The Poetry Off the Page project aims to strengthen the position of poetry performance as an object of literary study – both globally, through our research outputs and international conferences – as well as locally, through workshops and courses at the University of Vienna. One of these courses is the advanced seminar Literature and Language Education for students of the Bachelor Teacher Training Programme for English, which I have been teaching annually since 2023 with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Julia Lajta-Novak. As both a poetry performance researcher and a teacher of English at secondary school level, I covered the didactic aspect of this module. During my sessions, we examined how spoken word poetry might lend itself to language teaching in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. The work was both theoretical and practical, as students developed and tried out their material in real classrooms in and around Vienna. The teaching resources you can find on this webpage have emerged from this work. In the following, I will briefly discuss the value of spoken word poetry for the EFL classroom, including the perspectives of student teachers, and then outline the development of the teaching resources provided here.

To date, research has primarily focused on the use of spoken word poetry in first language school contexts, with only a few studies on spoken word poetry in EFL contexts (e.g. Burton; Hille; Salleh and Lin). Therefore, in my course, we approached the topic by starting with the general use of poetry in the EFL classroom at secondary schools. The student teachers’ experiences in school as students tended to confirm the lack of engaging uses of poems in language learning, or what Engelbert Thaler calls poetry’s “Cinderella existence” in the EFL classroom:

As they are syntactically and semantically rather complex, poems in general are hard to understand. This challenge is augmented when pupils face poems written in a foreign language. Moreover, the self-referentiality of poems creates a distance to the students’ personal spheres of life. Therefore a lot of teachers neglect lyrical texts in their classrooms to avoid demotivating the learners. Furthermore, a one-sided teaching approach, which focuses on closely analyzing the poem in order to “find the meaning”, has widened the gap between poetry and pupil. (Singer-Songwriters 13–14)

Thaler argues that the EFL classroom has been missing out on the myriad benefits of using poetry in the teaching context and that it would be advisable to broaden the range of forms of poetry in the classroom (Singer-Songwriters 14). Presented as audio tracks or, more frequently, as videos of live performances or as poetry films, spoken word poetry offers an expansion of the poetries used in the EFL classroom, with numerous benefits.

Spoken word poetry has many characteristics that make it especially suited for use in classrooms: It is authentic material, not created specifically for learners of English, thereby living up to the maxims of communicative language teaching (cf. Hedge 67; Thaler, Musikvideoclips im Englischunterricht 135). The brevity of spoken word poems also makes them easy to integrate into already full teaching schedules; they can be listened to multiple times and discussed in detail within a single lesson. Freely available via services such as YouTube, performed poems can be easily incorporated into lessons and can support the achievement of different curricular goals and the practice of manifold competences, as the lesson plans below demonstrate. 

As poetic texts intended to be heard, spoken word poems offer creative language use and stylistic complexity while frequently being easier to understand than the kinds of canonical poetry Thaler describes above. Humour and contemporary (pop) cultural references can increase the accessibility of spoken word poems for students. Moreover, the performance dimensions of spoken word poetry – tone, volume, pace, gestures, facial expressions, etc. – can support comprehension of a poem’s content. As student teacher Anja Hafner notes about her lesson, “By watching the performance twice and separating global listening from focused annotation, students were able to notice how tone, pace, emphasis, and direct address contribute to meaning. These multimodal features supported comprehension and interpretation in ways that a purely written poem might not have.” Students can be supported in understanding and discussing the poems by repetition of the material as well as by providing the written text as a supplement. In some spoken word films, parts of the text are even presented on screen as part of the aesthetic experience.

In addition to its utility as a short and variable form, spoken word poetry also has high motivational potential. It is not only authentic material, but also attractive, current, and addresses students’ interests and lives (see “A-Dekalog” in Thaler, Musikvideoclips im Englischunterricht 134–38). There are also many young poets engaged in spoken word poetry, with whom students can identify. Student teacher Theresa Höglinger remarks that “Spoken word poetry can bring energy into the classroom. […] Spoken word adds a dynamic, creative element that students really respond to.” Poetry performance videos provide multimodal input and are visually and acoustically appealing, either through the immediacy of seeing the poet-performer on stage or through the tropes of music video clips. This appeal makes spoken word poetry a good entry into poetry more broadly, as student teacher Gaia Gentilotti reflects, “What I take away from this lesson is how effective spoken word poetry can be as an introduction to poetry in general. Students already have a strong connection to music and video, and spoken word poetry feels much closer to these formats than written poems on a page.” This resonates with claims by researchers such as spoken word artist and educator Mia Fiore that incorporating spoken word poetry “can change [the] students’ views of literature as well as their relationship to it” (828); literature/poetry can become something fun, moving, and engaging, rather than something daunting and demotivating.

It is not only the form and format of poetry performance videos that are engaging. The subject matter itself is frequently highly topical and of immediate relevance to learners’ lives. The lesson plans below include poems on the climate crisis, social media use, multilingualism in schools, racism, gender relations, and more. These topics connect in meaningful ways to students’ lived experiences and concerns, often sparking lively discussions and reflections. Student teacher Rebeca Trufan shares that “the students responded positively, showing genuine interest and engagement” to the poem she brought in about identity and experiences of discrimination. Fiore argues that “[w]hen the beliefs and experiences of students are starting points from which their education is built, they are more likely to be engaged, to ask questions, to read the world critically” (814). Our teaching project confirmed this.

Spoken word poetry is a form of literary production that values and encourages the telling of personal stories and of speaking one’s truth. Using spoken word poems as a starting point for subsequent writing – and speaking – activities in the classroom can “provid[e] students with a platform from which to question and negotiate the conditions of their lives” (Fiore 813). While creative writing in a foreign language can be a challenge for students, the accessible and playful language use of spoken word poems can make it more approachable, as does the focus on writing about topics important to. As one student teacher summarizes, “The low-stakes entry points that spoken word poetry offers supported students’ participation in the creative writing activity. The personal dimension of spoken word poetry was equally central to the individual writing contributions and, in my opinion, the reason why many contributions were so meaningful.” Students are encouraged to see their voices and stories as valuable and worthy of attention in the classroom and beyond.

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The lesson plans and materials found on this page were developed by the students of the course “Literature and Language Education: Poetry Off the Page” in the winter term 2025. After two sessions of input and discussion on teaching spoken word poetry, student teachers were tasked with developing their own lesson plans. Each student tried out their lesson in an actual upper secondary school class they had previously observed, under the supervision of a host teacher. I reviewed the lesson plans prior to the sessions and provided feedback. After the student teachers revised their plans, the host teachers also viewed them ahead of time. Then the student teachers conducted their lessons and reflected on them in written form, incorporating some of their learnings into the lesson plans as they are published here.

While these lessons were constrained by the fact that they were one-off, primarily self-contained lessons, they demonstrate the wide range of possibilities for teaching with spoken word poems. A teacher who is more familiar with their students and can incorporate spoken word poems repeatedly and integrate them within longer teaching sequences would be able to do even more on the basis of this material.

Each lesson is described in the table below, including a short description of the topic and procedure of the lesson, the poem(s) used, and the intended CEFR level of the students. The lesson plan and teaching material are provided int he corresponding folder. The files here may be downloaded and used as they are, can be adapted for individual classroom’s needs, or serve as inspiration for developing similar lessons.  

Many thanks go to the student teachers who developed these lesson plans and agreed to make them available as resources for others: Jonas Eckmann, Carolina Färber, Gaia Gentilotti, Ariana Gol, Anja Hafner, Lorenz Mario Haider, Theresa Höglinger, Amélie Noichl, Philipp Pachinger, Constantin Siritian, Katarína Trizuljaková, Rebeca Trufan, Karoline Tscheppen, Oliver White. I would also like to express my appreciation for all the host teachers who welcomed student teachers into their classrooms.

It is my sincere hope that this teaching resource will be useful to teachers of every experience level interested in incorporating spoken word poetry into their classroom.

References

Burton, Jennifer. Spoken Word Poetry With Multilingual Students in an English for Academic Purposes Class: Translanguaging and Emotion for Critical Practice. 2023. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. usearch.univie.ac.at, https://www.proquest.com/docview/2889560013?pq-origsite=primo.

Fiore, Mia. “Pedagogy for Liberation: Spoken Word Poetry in Urban Schools.” Education and Urban Society, vol. 47, no. 7, Nov. 2015, pp. 813–29. SAGE Journals, https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124513511269.

Hedge, Tricia. Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. 1 publ., [Nachdr.], Oxford Univ. Press, 2011. Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers.

Hille, Almut. “Slam Poetry and Poetry Slams im Fremdsprachenunterricht: Erleben, Analysieren, selbst Verfassen und Präsentieren.” Fremdsprachen Lehren und Lernen, vol. 52, no. 1, Jan. 2023, 162866977, pp. 73–87. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.24053/FLuL-2023-0006.

Salleh, Aimi Shaheera, and Agnes Liau Wei Lin. “Freeing Minds: Improving Critical Thinking In Literature Learning Using Spoken Word Poetry.” European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Role(s) and Relevance of Humanities for Sustainable Development, Sept. 2019. www.europeanproceedings.com, https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2019.09.78.

Thaler, Engelbert. Musikvideoclips im Englischunterricht: Phänomenologie, Legitimität, Didaktik und Methodik eines neuen Mediums. 1. Aufl, Langenscheidt-Longman, 1999. Fremdsprachenunterricht in Theorie und Praxis.

———. “Singer-Songwriters – Poetries, Pop-try, Poe-try.” Singer-Songwriters. Narr Francke Attempto 2018, http://elibrary.narr.digital/book/99.125005/9783823392385.

Title	Student Teacher	Language Level	Poem	Summary	Lesson Plan	Materials
Advice, Idioms, and ‘B (If I should have a daughter…)’	Trizuljaková, Katarína	B1	“B” or “If I should have a daughter” – Sarah Kay   A poem about imagined advice from a young woman to her future daughter.	In this lesson, the topic of the lesson is first introduced by a speaking and writing activity about advice. Then the students listen to the poem’s performance to see if their advice shows up in the poem. Then there is a vocabulary activity focused on idioms. During the second listening, students are asked to focus on the delivery of the poem and choose a particularly impactful line. This line and the idioms are taken as inspiration for a creative writing activity.	Advice, Idioms, and ‘B (If I should have a daughter…)’	Handout
Bilingual Education and ‘Rigged Game’	Haider, Lorenz Mario	B2-C1	“Rigged Game” – Dylan Garity A poem about bilingual education in schools in the USA and justice in education.	In this lesson, after briefly discussing the term “spoken word poetry”, students listen to a poem about the importance of bilingual education in schools in the USA and then discuss the main message of the poem and how it relates to the students’ own experiences. Then the students listen and read the poem again and identify and interpret various poetic devices and their function in performance. Finally, the poem serves as inspiration for creative writing and potentially performance.	Bilingual Education and ‘Rigged Game’	Poem Text
Black Culture and ‘DNA after Kendrick Lamar’	Eckmann, Jonas	B1-B2	“DNA after Kendrick Lamar” – Boris Rogers   A poem about Black history and culture and the poet’s sense of identity.	In this lesson, students listen to a poem about Black history, culture, and identity. They share their personal responses to the poem and learn about various cultural/historical terms introduced in the poem. They discuss the metaphor of DNA in pairs before reflecting in writing on their own identity.	Black Culture and ‘DNA after Kendrick Lamar’	Handout
Bullying and ‘To This Day’	Hafner, Anja	B1-B2	“To This Day” – Shane Koyczan   A poem about bullying and its effects in the short and long term.	In this lesson, students first discuss what spoken word poetry is before the teacher introduces the poem and the topic. Students listen/watch the poem twice taking note of their affective responses and noting certain literary and performance features. They then discuss their findings in groups and decide on a single “power moment” for which they write a short analysis.	Bullying and ‘To This Day’
Climate Change and ‘Dear Future Generations: Sorry’	Pachinger, Philipp	B1	“Dear Future Generations: Sorry” – Prince Ea   A poem to an imagined future generation who is experiencing a vastly different – and worse – world due to climate change and humanity’s response to it.	In this lesson, students are first asked to look at a few images of nature and pick a favourite before predicting what the poem will be about. Some vocabulary items are pre-taught, then the students listen to the poem and write down some surprising moments. They discuss these findings with their neighbour. After a second listening they choose a few key lines from the poem, which they discuss in pairs. The teacher then asks them to provide key elements of poems. Finally, students are asked to write their own poem about the environment.	Climate Change and ‘Dear Future Generations: Sorry’	Handout 1, Handout 2
Climate Change and ‘Homesick’	Noichl, Amélie	B2	“Homesick: A Plea for Our Planet” – Andrea Gibson   A poem about climate change, individual and communal relationships to nature, and our responsibility to Earth.	In this lesson, students first discuss lines of Gibson’s poem and predict what the poem will be about. They then listen to the poem twice, focusing on their affective responses to the poem. Using the poem as inspiration, students then engage in a short creative writing activity about nature.	Climate Change and ‘Homesick’	Handout
Difference and ‘We’re the Same’	Färber, Carolina	B2	“We’re the Same” – Suhayl   A poem about cultural, religious, and ethnic differences and encouraging the perception of similarity across divides.	In this lesson, the students start by speaking about poetry and spoken word poetry and possible similarities and differences. Then they listen to the performance of “We’re the Same” and interpret elements of the poem in writing. These answers are shared and then students discuss some reflective questions about “being different” in groups.	Difference and ‘We’re the Same’	Handout
Digitalisation and ‘Touchscreen’	Gentilotti, Gaia	B1+	“Touchscreen” – Marshall Davis Jones   A poem about the effects of digitalization on people and relationships, full of tech-related figurative language.	In this lesson, after an introductory speaking activity about poetic features, the students are asked to predict the content of the poem based on the title, YouTube comments and a silent playing of part of the video. With vocabulary scaffolding, they then listen to the poem and discuss the use of metaphors and body language.	Digitalisation and ‘Touchscreen’	Handout
Discrimination and ‘The Identity That Is True To Me’	Trufan, Rebeca	B1	“The Identity That Is True To Me” – Romana Jabeen   A poem about cultural heritage, identity, and discrimination and what it means to the poet to be from a South Asian background.	In this lesson, students engage through writing and speaking practices with the topic of heritage, culture, identity, and discrimination, both in their own lives and as expressed in the poem that they listen to and discuss.	Discrimination and ‘The Identity That Is True To Me’	Handout
Dub Poetry and ‘Money’	White, Oliver	B2	“Money” – Benjamin Zephaniah   A dub poem about the perils of money and greed.	In this lesson, the students listen to their teacher performing a dub poem to introduce the genre. Then the features of dub poetry are outlined by the teacher. Students then write and perform their own dub poems individually or in groups. Zephaniah’s “Money” can be used as an example to imitate.	Dub Poetry and ‘Money’	Handout, Presentation
Gender, ‘Pretty’ and ‘Ten Responses’	Tscheppen, Karoline	B2	“Pretty” – Katie Makkai “Ten Responses to the Phrase ‘Man Up’” – Kyle “Guante” Tran Myhre   Two poems about gendered expectations in relation to appearance and behaviour.	In this lesson, after being introduced to the idea of spoken word poetry and poetry slams, the students listen to the poem “Pretty” and discuss its message and figurative language. They are then asked to compare this poem to an extract from the second poem on societal expectations of men, focusing here additionally on body language.	Gender, ‘Pretty’ and ‘Ten Responses’	Worksheet
Meaning Making and ‘Repetition’	Gol, Ariana	B1+	“Repetition” – Phil Kaye   A poem about repetition, meaning making and personal experiences, including coping with divorce in childhood.	In this lesson, students start by speaking about poetry and spoken word poetry and possible similarities and differences. Then they listen to the poem and fill out worksheets focusing on different aspects of the poem (words/repetition, delivery, imagery). The results are compared in pairs. The poem then serves as inspiration for a creative writing activity and potentially a performance.	Meaning Making and ‘Repetition’	Handout 1, Handout 2
Police Violence and ‘Cops’	Siritian, Constantin	B1-B2	“Cops” – Kouk   A poem about police violence against black men and international solidarity.	In this lesson, students predict what the poem will be able based on the title and context. They then listen to the poem and discuss the content of the poem and the affect of the performer’s identity on the interpretation of the poem. This is followed by an extended discussion of police violence in the USA and the Black Lives Matter movement. The homework is to write a short comment/response in the style of a YouTube comment.	Police Violence and ‘Cops’	Handout
Word Play and ‘Table Games’	Höglinger, Theresa	B1+/B2	“Table Games” – Sarah Kay   A humorous poem about a game that uses puns focused on daily kitchen and dining items, turning into a narrative of a breakup.	In this lesson, after an introductory speaking activity about spoken word poetry and predicting the content of the poem, students discuss the poem with a focus on figurative language and puns in particular, which they then use for a creative writing activity.	Word Play and ‘Table Games’	Handout

Spoken word poetry brings a distinctive and highly valuable dimension to classroom learning by centering student voice, lived experience, and authentic expression. When being used in the classroom, it strengthens literacy skills across reading, writing, speaking, and listening while fostering critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and cultural awareness. Moreover, it invites students to engage deeply with language and rhetoric, often motivating learners who may feel disconnected from traditional academic texts. Additionally, it not only promotes inclusivity and builds a classroom culture grounded in respect, empathy, and dialogue, but also equips students with the confidence and communicative skills essential for civic participation and lifelong learning. – Petra Csögl (Host Teacher)

Overall, this lesson increased my confidence in teaching poetry and showed me that working with spoken word poems can be motivating for students and encourages them to engage with literature beyond the classroom. – Anonymous (Student Teacher)

It brought me a lot of joy to see the students’ stereotypical views of poetry, words like “boring,” “rhyme,” and “old”, slowly get challenged as the lesson progressed. It was fascinating to watch them realize that poetry can be something raw and modern. The most rewarding moment, however, was the optional performance at the end. I wasn’t sure if anyone would be brave enough to share their lines, but several volunteers actually stood up. Seeing them try out different rhythms and use their voices intentionally gave me a real sense of accomplishment; it showed that they had moved from passive listeners to active performers. – Anonymous (Student Teacher)

It has been a pleasure to host one of your students in my classroom. It was hugely beneficial for both my students and myself to gain a fresh perspective on how literature can be taught beyond my usual routines. – Christa Ölz (Host Teacher)

“Most importantly, the experience showed me how spoken word poetry can bring energy into the classroom. It confirmed for me that poetry does not always have to be written and analyzed quietly. Spoken word adds a dynamic, creative element that students really respond to.” – Theresa Höglinger (Student Teacher)

“I found it particularly beneficial to employ a contemporary spoken-word piece that engages with socially relevant issues, as the students responded positively, showing genuine interest and engagement. […] I appreciated the opportunity to introduce a serious and meaningful topic that extends beyond the assessed content.” – Rebeca Trufan (Student Teacher)