Middle School Resources
Banner image features "Black Joy" by artist Octavia Ink
These resources are intended to help students and families prepare for participation in Berkeley Unified's Oratorical Festival. For even more resources, please contact your teacher or school library media specialist.
Sample Performances
Watch the videos below for examples of outstanding oratorical performances by young people.
My Black written & performed by Amiya Robinson
If You Give a Child a Word written & performed by Brandon Sanders & Mikeala Miller
Digital Resources
Check the resources below for readings you might consider performing.
Brief But Spectacular: Black Girl Magic
By Mahogany L. Browne
Format: Poetry
Truth, A Safe Place, The Scluptor
By Nikki Grimes
Format: Poetry
The book these poems appear in, One Last Word, is available at all of our middle school libraries.
Books Available at Your School Library
These books include readings you might consider performing. All of these books, and more, are available at your school library. If the book is available as an e-book, you can access it by clicking on the cover. For more ideas, talk to your teachers or your school librarian.
by Walter Dean Myers
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice
by Mahogany L. Browne