Lesson Plan #1: Haiku

Subject Area: English-Language Arts & Reading

Grade Level: 5^th to 6^th Grade

Unit Title: Poetry [Composition & Analysis]

Lesson Title: Japanese Haiku

California Standards:

• Grade 6 English-Language Arts - 3.4 Define how tone or meaning is conveyed in poetry through word choice, figurative language, sentence structure, line length, punctuation, rhythm, repetition, and rhyme.
• Grade 6 to 12 Reading [Poetry] - Includes classical through contemporary works and the subgenres of narrative poems, lyrical poems, free verse poems, sonnets, odes, ballads, and epics by writers which represent a broad range of literary periods and cultures.

Performance Objectives:

Upon completion of this lesson, the student will be able to...

• Understand syllabication
• Write a haiku

Materials:

• Books:
• Wardlaw, L. (2011). Won-Ton: A cat tale told in haiku. New York, NY: Henry Holt. ISBN: 978-0-8050-8995-0
• Nishimoto, K. (1998). Haiku picturebook for children. Torrance, CA: Heian International. ISBN: 0893469165
• Kobayashi, I. (2007). Today and today. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 9780439590785
• Practice Worksheets
• Overhead Projector

References:

Lesson plan is model from the free haiku lesson plan found at ReadingA-Z.com. Retrieved July 12, 2011 from: http://www.readinga-z.com/poetry/lesson_plans/haiku/haiku_print.html

Preparation

• Share with students the picture book Won-ton in order to demonstrate the use of a collection of haiku to tell a story.

Presentation

• Review to make sure students understand what a syllable is and how to determine how many syllables are in a word.
• Introduce to students what a haiku is
• A Japanese poem generally written about nature.
• Most commonly consisting of three separate lines with a total of 17 syllables broken down into 5-7-5 format.

Application:

• Have students complete an in-class worksheet in which:
• They separate the syllables and line breaks in a haiku which is provided.
• They can select which of the poems provided are and are not a haiku.
• They complete a haiku by adding words with the appropriate number of syllables (like the mad gabs game).
• They compare in-class their mad gab haiku to another students.

Evaluation:

• Evaluate student’s worksheets to see if the concept of haiku subject matter and syllabication is being properly understood.  If not, do some more practice review on the overhead. 

Closure & Assigned Student Work:  

• Have students read a haiku out loud to the class from either Nishimoto’s (1998) or Kobayashi’s (2007) book.
• Students will pull from a box the subject of nature about which they will write a haiku (ex: wind, water, storms, fire, etc.). 
• Afterwards, students will read their poems aloud to the class with proper fluency, rhythm, and expression.