Words That Burn

Words That Burn is a national project developed by Amnesty International and The Poetry Hour, which challenges young people to make a difference through poetry and use that medium to explore and express human rights. Each term a different human rights theme invites personal responses, or solidarity and protest poems for an individual who has had their human rights violated, which Amnesty will forward on. There is also a  'Make a Difference in a Minute' challenge: to perform a poem in one minute or less that gets your message heard. Themes covered include:

• being heard
• being me
• freedom
• dignity
• power
• change
• witness
• speak up
• respect

The teaching materials have been written for ages 11 to 16+, ie for use in Key Stage 3: Lower Secondary (Year 7 to 9 in England and Wales; Secondary 1 to 2 in Scotland; Year 8 to 10 in Northern Ireland); Key stage 4: Upper Secondary (Year 10 to 11 in England and Wales; Secondary 3 to 4 in Scotland; Year 11 to 12 in Northern Ireland); Key Stage 5: Further education (Year 12 to 13 in England and Wales, Years 13 to 14 in Northern Ireland and Secondary 5 to 6 in Scotland).