Dianna Pallack
How to Haiku
Unit
Teaching Plan
If my Social Science major has taught me anything, it would be the importance of multiculturalism. So when I choose the category of drama, humor, and poetry, it seemed only natural that whichever subject I would end up working with would somehow involve the idea of using different cultures. Poetry ended up being my choice after discussing with my other groups member on their choices. At the time no one seemed to be leaning towards that subject. For some unknown reason, haiku poems stuck out in my head. I started to research books on haiku. Unfortunately, after speaking with a few teachers on the subject I learned that they choose not to work with haiku for they felt it would be too challenging to teach and for the students to grasp the concept. Right then and there I decided that it would be important to carry on the origins of haiku for all ages while explaining the culture behind it.
The focus on my unit plan is geared to both elementary and high school students. The book that I based my unit plan on was The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share, and Teach Haiku by William J. Higginson. Higginson provides a fundamental explanation of not only of the art of haiku but of the importance of it's origins, while also sharing stories of teaching experiences that have helped to create a teaching lesson that can be used for all ages. The book also stresses the need to look at life by each and every single moment, for it's in those quick moments that help to make who one becomes.
I also choose three different books that focused on haiku poems for both younger and older students. For the younger grades I found these three books: First, Black Swan, White Crow by J. Patrick Lewis, this book combines both simplistic and detailed colored pictures of nature that help the reader to comprehend the meanings of each haiku, while also giving a description of the history and the rules of writing haiku. Second, Stone Bench in an Empty Park by Paul B. Janeczko, this intermediate haiku book with classic style black and white photographs depict the meanings of each haiku. An important feature of this book is that it explains the rules and the origins of haiku dating back 900 years ago when it used to be called renga. And third, One Leaf Rides the Wind by Celeste Davidson Mannis, is a counting book is a wonderful first book for any beginning reader. Stylized with each haiku is a full water colored picture to help the young reader learn haiku while counting their way to the end of the story.
The three books that I found that were more geared for older readers are: First, The Haiku Anthology; English language haiku by contemporary American and Canadian poets, edited by Cor van den Heuvel. This anthology provides a very detailed account of Japanese's ancestors and the beginnings of renga, with over a hundred different haiku poems for the great masters who started it. This book also provides a definitions page that serves as a quick guide for understanding the basics of haiku and the complexity of Japanese's sound systems. Second, Borrowed Water: A Book of American Haiku by the Los Altos Writers Roundtable. This book lists the accounts of how the 1956 poets of Writers Roundtable was formed and a summary of how haiku started with guide lines on how to get started. It features over a hundred different haiku that are divided up by the four seasons. And third, Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands on Guide by Jane Reichhold. Reichhold provides very detailed descriptions of the art of haiku. No only does she feel the need for writers to be one with their poetry, she practices those methods by teaching others. I've selected a few of her methods that I found to be useful when teaching different techniques of haiku.
When explaining haiku, it is important to emphases that, unlike regular poems, every word is essential. The three main questions that children should know in order to critique their own haiku poems are: first, is it brief? Second, does the haiku have at least two images (with no metaphors or similes)? And third, do the images come together to form an emotion?
What are the origins of haiku? Over 900 years ago, the Japanese culture started expressive nature themed stories called, "renga." Renga is a long string of many different short lines that help create a larger story that is written by many poets. Later on renga was shortened to create what is more commonly known as, "Haiku." The four great masters of haiku (see over head hand out) helped to both start and carry on the art of haiku and renga over many generations.
How is haiku written? Haiku poems are a special kind of photo that captures the essence of what is happening in a single moment in time. Often connecting two seemly-unrelated things. The poems are very short consisting of two to three lines and no more then twenty syllables. They are usually written in a 5-7-5 syllable count. The focus is sharply on a detail of nature or a season in everyday life. The idea is to express your feelings or reflections based on the what one feels at a certain moment to be put in a verse.
How might one teach different ages groups with haiku? Some helpful tips when working with older students is that when you assign them a writing task it's important for the students to see the instructor writing along with the students, that way they see writing as an adult task. Also not to jump on the help those students that don't start writing right away, if you give them time then they will get the hang of it. When working with younger students it helps to have visual aides to help the students both visualize before beginning to write and then after to understand the meaning of some of the haikus. One of the important points of writing haiku is to get an emotional reaction out of the reader.
Here are two examples of to show how the slightest difference in words can produce more emotions and meaning out of the readers, a) is not a haiku poem and b) the correct way.
a) I was sad b) dead cat...
When I saw open-mouthed
The dead cat to the pouring rain
I found that after researching all I could on haiku, I will make sure to keep these ideas in my head for when I start to teach my own class. Since I always struggled with reading and writing this is a great way to get students involved at a very basic stage in learning that can later lead to higher more complex ideas. I picked up a rain forest CD to play in the background to help spark some imagination in my audience, which can be used in a classroom setting where you have the kids close their eyes and picture a single moment to write about. Another idea to add to any class lesson is to bring in some items from the culture that you are going to present on, that way it's gets your students excited about learning and shows them the beautiful traditions all cultures possess.
The Four Great Masters of Haiku
(Higginson 7-22)
Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) A master of renga, who made his living traveling around the
country, teaching people the art and craft. (Higgison 7- )
Kare-eda ni
on a barren branch
Karasu
no tomarikeri
a raven has perched-
Aki no kure
autumn dusk
Yosa Buson (1716-1784) was a prominent leader, brought the influence of Souther Chinese
paintings into Japanese art.
Yanagi chiri
willow leaves fallen
Shimizu kare ishi clear
waters dried up stones
Tokoro-dokoro
one place and another
Kobayashi Issa (1762-1826) wrote many haiku on bugs, especially grasshoppers and files.
Kagero ya
heat shimmer...
Me ni tsuki-matou lingering in the
eye
Warai-gao
a laughing face
Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) devoted his time to establish a new style of painting and
perfecting renga.
Nashi saku ya
the pearing blossoming...
Iskusa
no ato no
after the battle this
Kuzure ie
ruined house
Images from
http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~harasng/a_brief_history.htm 
Haiku poems are
a special kind of photo. It captures the essence of what is happening,
often-connecting two seemingly unrelated things.
�
Very short:
just three lines usually fewer than twenty syllables long. Written in 5-7-5
syllables.
Noel
Kaufmann
Behold the ego
Set in glowing emptiness
On the edge of time
�
Descriptive:
in haiku you focus sharply on a detail of nature or everyday life.
� Personal: you express your feelings or reflections on what you see and describe.
Image from http://www.gardendigest.com/poetry/haiku4.htm#Teens
Techniques by Jane Reichhold
The
Technique of Association - This can be thought of as "how different things relate or
come together". The Zen of this technique is called "oneness" or
showing how everything is part of everything else. You do not have to be a
Buddhist to see this; simply being aware of what is, is illumination enough.
moving
into the sun
the
pony takes with him
some
mountain shadow
The
Technique of Narrowing Focus - This is something Buson used a lot because he, being an artist,
was a very visual person. Basically what you do is to start with a wide-angle
lens on the world in the first line, switch to a normal lens for the second
line and zoom in for a close-up in the end. It sounds simple, but when he did
it he was very effective. Read some of Buson's work to see when and how he did
this.
the
whole sky
in a
wide field of flowers
one
tulip
The
Technique of Double entendre (or double meanings) - Anyone who has read translations of
Japanese poetry has seen how much poets delighted in saying one thing and
meaning something else. Only insiders knew the secret language and got the
jokes. In some cases the pun was to cover up a sexual reference by seeming to
speaking of something commonplace. There are whole lists of words with double
meanings: spring rain = sexual emissions and jade mountain = the Mound of
Venus, just to give you an sampling. But we have them in English also, and
haiku can use them in the very same way.
eyes
in secret places
deep
in the purple middle
of
an iris
The
Technique of Humor - This is the dangerous stuff. Because one has no way of judging
another person's tolerance for wisecracks, jokes, slurs, bathroom and bedroom
references, one should enter the territory of humor as if it is strewn with
land-mines. And yet, if one is reading before a live audience nothing draws in
the admiration and applause like some humorous haiku. Very often the humor of a
haiku comes from the honest reactions of humankind. Choose your terms
carefully, add to your situation with appropriate leaps, and may the haiku gods
smile on you.
dried
prune faces
guests
when they hear
we
have only a privy
The
Above as Below Technique. Seeming to be a religious precept, yet this technique works to
make the tiny haiku a well-rounded thought. Simply said: the first line and the
third line exhibit a connectedness or a completeness. Some say one should be
able to read the first line and the third line to find it makes a complete
thought. Sometimes one does not know in which order to place the images in a
haiku. When the images in the first and third lines have the strongest
relationship, the haiku usually feels 'complete'. For exercise, take any haiku
and switch the lines around to see how this factor works or try reading the
haiku without the second line.
holding
the day
between
my hands
a
clay pot
Together hearts form
Long reach- slivery white wings
Streams guide their way home
Image from Yahoo images
Reference Cited
Higginson,
William J., The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share, and Teach Haiku.
New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1985.
Janeczko, Paul
B. Stone bench in an empty park.
New York: Orchard Books, 2000.
Los Altos
Writers Roundtable. Borrowed Water: A Book of American Haiku. Rutland,
Vt.,
C.E. Tuttle Co., 1966.
Mannis, Celeste Davidson. One Leaf Rides the Wind: Counting in a JapaneseGgarden.
New York: Viking, 2002.
Patrick, Lewis,
J. Black Swan, White Crow
New York: Atheneum Books for Young
Readers,
1995.
Reichhold, Jane.
Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands-on Guide. Toyko, Japan:
Kodansha
International, 2002.
Van den Heuvel,
Cor. The Haiku Anthology: English Language Haiku by Contemporary
American
and Canadian Poets.
Edited by Cor van den Heuvel. New York City,
New York: Anchor Press, 197