Winning Words is an interactive online poetry game created as part of a wider initiative to celebrate and promote poetry in the run up to the London 2012 Games.
Using words from a bank of poetry inspired by Olympic and Paralympic sports and ideals as inspiration, students can work together to explore different kinds of poetry, write their own poems and perform their final creations in front of their class. The game offers a new approach to teaching poetry in the classroom and taking poetry off the page.
Through the Winning Words site, teachers and students can bring poetry to life through a Random Word Generator or ‘Word Wizard’ that produces ranges of words for students and teachers to work with. The words are sourced from an Olympic and Paralympic ‘Poetry Bank’ that contains a number of poems and poetic quotations selected by well-known poets and authors. The collection was put together to inspire permanent poetry installations that will launch as part of the Olympic Park in 2012. All of the words are based around the themes and values of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Whether it’s Haiku, Shape Poetry or Performance Poetry for primary students and Rap, Sonnet or The Imaginative Voice for secondary there are poems for everyone. Once inside the site, students can discover more about the type of poem, its history and context before creating a poem from the word bank. The final stage of the game encourages students to bring their new poem to life through performing it, making it into a picture or sharing with friends.
A poem written by a Year 7 pupil from Globe Academy for the Winning Words launch event
I was made to fly
Flying in the wind
It watches the generations of life
Gathered together to celebrate this special moment
Time runs out as they go
For sweet, glistening gold.
