Finding 'significance' 2

The squash club is a poem that we all relate to as we've all spent time waiting. This is a perfect example of where we can find significance within things that are just the boring in-between bits in our lives. The same could be said about the following two.

We decided to focus on The Squash Club and this is what we noticed:

• 3 lined stanzas throughout
• no rhyme other than "...20 cent piece in the crease of..."
• The poem begins with a choice
• There are senses, noticings, actions and a conversations

Read the 3 poems below and complete the SOLO Compare and Contrast hotmap.

Exemplars

Heres Catherines version of 'squash club'

Teacher Stuff

Language features Show a developing understanding of how language features are used for effect within and across texts / Use language features appropriately, showing a developing understanding of their effects

Finding significance

This Town

The town was usual enough; it had
A creek, a bridge, a beach, a sky
Over it, and even a small tin church
I never went to. My brother, my cousins and I
Did what boys do - dozed in the hot
Schoolroom, made bows and arrows, dodged the mad
Boatbuilder, crept like rabbits through the black
Under-runners with a weak torch,
Burnt dry rushes, wrestled or swam
Doing nothing important

James K Baxter

What did we notice?

We noticed that the poem by James K Baxter found the extraordinary within the ordinary. To complete a poem like JKB we decided:

• To use the first line (The ? was usual enough) but include something from ours lives (backyard, garage...)
• To include 5 nouns but describe the 5th better than the others
• Name some people/person doing what that person does
• Include a list of verbs and nouns (describing the things we do and where)
• Frame the poem with doing nothing important

EXAMPLES

Below are a link to a couple of examples. Check them out.

Harrison's is a good example of using colloquialisms and making it sound conversational 

Skye's lets us into a private world and has a depth of feeling

Nina's lets us experience the fun of just having fun