Do you Haiku?

[clay dube]

Here's a link to the lesson plan Virginia mentioned: http://uschinaforum.usc.edu/topic18870-lesson-plan-create-a-class-haiku-booklet-keepsake.aspx#post22961

[Anonymous]

Hi vhaddad!
Thank you for the wonderful suggestions for different kinds of poetry lessons. I teach 2nd grade, and I think my students could have fun and be successful with some of them. I love the renku poetry. I think collaborative projects are so meaningful and important. I love the idea that the student's (poet's) own voice in interwoven with their peers is fantastic. I would be a great lesson in using imagery for my young students. I am going to try the sijo as well, since it is less restrictive.
Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Great lesson! I think it's great that you expose your students to different literary art forms. So often our students think only about their surroundings and what they know. I think one of our jobs as educators is to expose our students to different cultures, ideas, art, and customs. What an eye opening experience for fourth graders to learn and explore a type of literary art from a different country.

[Anonymous]

Poetry is certainly a good way to learn about another culture. Not only because of the beauty or the literary value of poetry but the images it can present and describes. It always gives you a clearer idea of the people and the ideals and or beliefs.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sharing on the different types of poetry. I'm specially interested in learning more on renkus. The fact that it is a traditional type of Japanese poetry that is written through a collaboration of two or more poets seems to make it perfect for classroom use. I read up on it a little bit more and I found out that typically an honored guest is invited to contribute to the opening stanza. Typically, students make reference to the season in the renku. A common renku topic is the moon. Therefore, I think it would be a good idea to tie in learning about the Mid-Autumn Festival while writing a renku.

The problem I encountered was lack of child-friendly samples of renkus. Does anybody know where I might find that?

[Anonymous]

Awesome project! I just taught a quick haiku lesson since April is poetry month, but I didn't have enough time to spend more than a few minutes on haikus due to Open House today. I focused mainly on connecting words with nature, which most students were able to capture. Some were able to truly connect with experiences they've had in nature, hiking in the Sequoias, skateboarding outside, enjoying the sand on a beach, and so on.

I had students simply write the haiku with a picture to accompany it, but they were able to easily grasp the idea of what a haiku is, structurally, and were challenged by how limited their syntax needed to be in order to have it classified as a "haiku." All students were able to enjoy the lesson. Those who normally struggle with writing appreciated how simple the poem could be and those who normally excel in their writing had fun with the challenges writing in the 5-7-5 format had to offer.

The next time I teach a lesson on haikus, I will definitely use the lesson ideas provided in this thread. I think students will be able to feel more comfortable with the haiku style and write with more ease. It will also be interesting to learn about renkus and open the door for more collaboration in the classroom, which the students are always enthusiastic to participate in. Thanks for the lesson ideas!

[Anonymous]

Since I discovered Haiku, I fell in love with the style. I enjoy reading haikus and counting the syllables to see that it is correct. Sometimes when my students bring in their Haiku poems when they have the poetry unit in their English class. They are surprised when they ask me the rules and I know them. They also get shocked when they bring in a math problem that they cannot solve or challenge me with it. I know how to solve their math problems. I guess I'm not supposed to know about Haiku poetry or other subjects since I'm only the Spanish teacher. it's funny to me.

[Anonymous]

Last year, I did a unit on poetry and my students and I focused on writing Haiku's. I loved the different themes and styles that my students were able to learn. The themes on nature, rivers and moons were very interesting and a bit complicated for my students to use to write their poems. This semester, I am mentoring a new creative writing teacher and she is also utilizing haikus for her poetry unit and students have been very into the experience.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

In the lesson plan section I posted a detailed lesson plan on creating class keepsake haiku booklets, so I want to point that out because I think it is one of my year's star projects. Just two days ago a former student came up to me asking if I had more copies of the book their class had made.

I also want to point out that there are other very cool Japanese literary forms to teach and have a lot of fun with. Look up "renku" --a form of short linked poems that poets take turns writing and which carry a subtle uniting thread throughout. It is a great collaborative project and so interesting to follow in the twists and turns of imagery, thought, and the characterization of each poet's voice developing and seeping through the poems.

I also posted a lesson plan on "haibun" -- so effective in applying Bloom taxonomy of higher thinking skills. In brief, a haibun is a prose paragraph followed by a summative haiku.

There is also "sijo," a Korean poetry form that is less restrictive than haiku. In a silo, similes and metaphors are fine.

Enjoy!

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