The students are asked to write a free verse poem or short prose piece that describes the room they are in and what they see from their window. This could become a 3D piece where the students create a cardboard window frame and place their poem in the window. They could include a favourite toy or totem on the windowsill.
Some landscapes from our past are often very vivid. We can remember what we did, what we saw, what we heard and how we felt. This writing activity draws upon the senses to inspire a micro-story or poem that captures a memory of a past place.
Everyone of us has a place that is special. A place that we love to visit, where we can feel inspired and happy. Show your students the excerpt from the film The Important Places by Forest Woodward & Brendan Leonard on YouTube - https://youtu.be/ffNPOnbTkmo.
Dad to Forest, 1986
Child of mine
come as you grow
in youth you will learn the secret places
the cave behind the waterfall
the arms of the oak that hold you high
the stars so near on a desert ledge
the important places
and as with age you choose your own way
among the many faces of a busy world
may you always remember the path that leads back
back to the important places.
Use excerpts or whole texts or poems from the suggested Literature list as great models for writing.
Landscapes become part of our identity, particularly the places that we grew up in. We can remember them fondly or with sadness. Wiradjuri writer Jeanine Leane writes poignant, lyrical poetry and penned a novel Purple Threads that capture memories of her past. Jeanine was the recipient of the University of Canberra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Poetry Prize, and she has won the Oodgeroo Noonucal Prize for Poetry twice. She has been the recipient of a Red Room Poetry Fellowship and two Australian Research Council (ARC) Fellowships.
She conveys through evocative descriptions, the defining features of the landscapes and these features to convey powerful feelings.
Use the approach of the Master Chef series to inspire your students to create their micro-story masterpiece. Make it even more fun by using boxes to hold the secret ingredients. This activity can be done individually or in small groups of two or three students.
Jukuna Mona Chuguna and Pat Lowe’s The Girl from the Great Sandy Desert
Climate Speaks (Young people’s original poems) https://www.climatespeaks.org/performance
Cath Crowley’s Graffiti Moon
Excerpts from Ahn Do’s The Happiest Refugee: My Journey from Tragedy to Comedy Ali Cobby Eckermann’s poetry Inside My Mother
Excerpt from Richard Flanagan’s Narrow Road to the Deep North
Mabel Gibson’s poems ‘Dream like a child’ and ‘Nanna’s Garden’ in Maar Bidi: Next generation black writing (Ed’s: Elfie Shiosaki and Linda Martin)
Robert Gray’s poems ‘Harbour Dusk’ and ‘At the Cove’ in his anthology Coast Road
Excerpts from Anita Heiss’ Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray: River of Dreams
Steven Herrick’s The Simple Gift and Down by the River
Steven Herrick’s short story ‘The Taste of Blue’ in UQP’s Reading the Landscape: A Celebration of Australian Writing
Anthony Hill’s Soldier Boy
Jeanine Leane’s poetry Purple Threads
Excerpts from Alan Marshall’s I Can Jump Puddles
Carl Merrison and Hakea Hustler’s Black Cockatoo
Nancy Murray’s poems ‘Nature’ and ‘Coast’ in Maar Bidi: Next generation black writing (Ed’s: Elfie Shiosaki and Linda Martin)
Bruce Pascoe’s Sea Horse
Excerpt from Favel Parrett’s Past the Shallows
Trina Saffioti’s Stolen Girl
Kirli Saunders’ Bindi
Excerpts from Rebe Taylor’s Unearthed
Mark Treddinnick’s poetry
Margaret Wild’s The Girl from the Sea
Excerpts from Danielle Wood’s The Alphabet of Light and Dark