The following lesson introduces haiku from scratch, and by the end of it pupils are in a position to write good haiku of their own. It starts with stories of the 17th century Japanese poet Basho, goes on to examine features of classic haiku and modern haiku, and culminates in the writing task.
The lesson is written as a self-study unit which you can follow to prepare yourself for the class. It is accompanied by suggestions for how to organise it as a class teaching session, so it doubles as a lesson-plan for use with your class (see Method below).
Timing
It is quite possible to teach the entire lesson, including discussing the pupils’ choices of favourite poems, all around a class of thirty, and including writing and some redrafting of the writing, in an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half. Suggestions are appended at the end for follow-up work in a subsequent lesson.
The critical discussions of the haiku form, however, could take longer if you wish to cover thoroughly the issues raised in our Reference section (haiku and Zen, the poetic form, the Japanese language, the history of haiku, the spirit of haiku etc.). In this case, you would divide the lesson into two or three classroom sessions.
The poems in this lesson have been chosen to appeal to younger children and are suitable for the primary age range.
Method
1. Read through the self-study unit and do the tasks, so that you understand the material thoroughly.
2. Read more information on aspects of haiku, if you wish, by jumping to the articles in the Reference section, in order to be more fully informed when it comes to discussion of the poems in class.
3. Download the Photocopiable formatted Source Pages in the file at the end of the lesson, and photocopy sufficient numbers of each page for your students. You have our permission to copy copyright poems and translations for teaching purposes, but you may not re-publish copyright poems or translations without the express permission of the writers or their publishers.
4. Take your students through the stages of the lesson as shown in the self-study unit, leaving enough time at the end (about half an hour) for them each to write some haiku.
5. If you still have some time and energy left, go straight on to the Follow-ups (Re-drafting poems, displaying poems, performing poems). Otherwise, follow up in a subsequent lesson.
SELF-STUDY STUDENTS
Follow the instructions in the following lesson and work through the examples. The icons used to help guide you through the activities are:
By the end of the lesson, you should have written some of your own poems, and, more importantly, they should be poems that are truly in the spirit of haiku, not just seventeen-syllable thoughts or jokes.
