Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: cd681d6437ffc398b32e3f63e390c3d680561df5fe0308ebe602cb90fe8eb1d5

# Random Word Poetry

Small groups select from a curated word bank of moveable tiles or cards to construct a short poem. Teams read their poems aloud to the whole room, followed by brief reflections on creative constraints.

**Time:** 15 minutes. 15 minutes matches the source time band and provides enough time for setup, drafting, and sharing.
**People:** 4 to 24. Small groups of 3 to 5 participants. If 4 or 5 total participants, work as a single team.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Collaborate under arbitrary vocabulary constraints to produce a short creative text.
**Use it when:** Use as an energetic warm-up, a quick creative reset between dense topics, or a synthesizing exercise using vocabulary from course readings.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the group needs to address high-stakes conflict, resolve complex factual problems, or when tight schedules leave no room for playful divergence.

## Materials and tools

- For in-person: One envelope per team containing 40 to 60 pre-cut word tiles (cardstock, 1x3 inches), blank index cards, and markers.
- For remote: A shared digital whiteboard (such as Miro or Mural) with dedicated team workspaces and moveable word tiles.
- A visible timer.

## Before participants arrive

1. Print and cut word tile sets for in-person tables, or prepare separate breakout frames on a digital board with pre-placed moveable word elements.
2. Prepare the sample poem from participant materials to display during instructions.

## Say this to open

Each team has a collection of moveable words, similar to refrigerator poetry magnets. Your goal in your small group is to arrange these words into a short poem of three to five lines. You can work with whatever meaning emerges, humorous or serious. Pick one person to read your poem aloud when we reconvene. Let us look at an example first.

## How to run it

### 1. Explain rules and show example (2 minutes)

Display the rules and the sample poem from participant materials. Explain that groups must use words from their supplied bank, though they can write up to three custom connector words (like 'and', 'the', or 'is') on blank cards if needed. Confirm that groups have access to their board or table tiles.

### 2. Draft poems in small groups (7 minutes)

Send groups to breakout rooms or set them to work at their tables. Teams sort through words, test combinations, and finalize a poem of 3 to 5 lines. Remind groups at the four-minute mark to select a reader.

### 3. Share poems (4 minutes)

Call everyone together. Ask each team's reader to read their completed poem aloud in sequence. Limit each reading to 30 seconds without explanation or background context. If running a group of 5 or 6 teams, strictly enforce reading only.

### 4. Debrief creative constraints (2 minutes)

Lead a brief plenary reflection. Ask 2 or 3 participants to comment on how having a limited vocabulary shaped their drafting speed and creative choices.


## Debrief questions

- How did having a fixed word bank help or hinder your team compared to starting with a completely blank page?
- What strategies did your team use to agree on an idea quickly when words did not fit initial plans?

**Finished output:** A short 3 to 5 line poem constructed by each small team displayed on cards or a digital workspace.

## Remote

Create breakout rooms and a shared virtual whiteboard. Set up numbered frames for each group, each pre-populated with identical sets of moveable text cards or image tiles. When time is called, return all participants to the main room and share screen as each team reader reads their frame.

## Hybrid

Form distinct remote and in-person groups. In-person groups manipulate physical word cards at their tables. Remote groups use an online board. When sharing, have an in-person reader read to the room mic, and have remote readers share audio while displaying their digital board to the room screen.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may contribute silently by organizing cards, proposing combinations in chat, or opting out of reading aloud.
- Provide high-contrast large-print word cards for participants with low vision.
- Allow teams to dictate lines to a scribe if physical manipulation of small cards is difficult.

## If the session gets stuck

**A group gets stuck trying to write a serious poem that the words do not support.**

Remind them that absurd or humorous results are entirely acceptable. Encourage them to assemble any grammatical phrase first and build around it.

**One group finishes in two minutes and disengages.**

Prompt them to use their remaining bank to write a companion stanza or construct a second short haiku.


## Terms used here

- Word Bank: A set of pre-selected words provided to participants as raw material for writing.

## Participant material: Sample Starter Word Bank (50 Words)

cloud, run, quiet, jump, signal, bright, machine, green, stone, whisper, slow, bridge, turn, hollow, wire, search, silver, open, break, ocean, balance, shadow, sudden, listen, flame, build, north, rhythm, pocket, clear, circle, tomorrow, heavy, river, paper, drift, iron, edge, question, path, freeze, light, spark, city, simple, under, always, never, sometimes, together

## Participant material: Sample Poem Example

quiet machine
listen under the green bridge
sudden bright spark

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in a Knowmium publication attributed to Joshua Davies (2021).

Retained the core mechanic from Knowmium: teams using a shared word bank of moveable tiles to build short poetry in small groups. Added standard UWT timing breakdown, group size accommodations including 5-person rooms, an explicit sample poem, an in-person print option, structured debrief questions, and a ready-to-use 50-word bank.

[Knowmium](https://knowmium.com/tools/2021/3/11/random-word-poetry)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/random-word-poetry-knowmium-the-un-training-consultancy/