“How-To” Teaching Tips For National Haiku Month

February 20, 2015

Attention all English teachers! Did you know that February is National Haiku Writing Month? If you’re in the middle of developing the remainder of this month’s writing activities, we suggest placing the spotlight on Haikus, a Japanese form of poetry that emphasizes the use of syllables. Below you will find a few interesting ways that you can start to teach students about this style of writing:

1. Through Music – As stated in an article on Scholastic.com, poetry and music are two ways in which emotions can be expressed. Once students are familiar with the format of a Haiku, play them a piece of music, then ask them to write their own Haiku based off of the emotions they felt that music conveyed.
2. Word Scramble – If your students are into group projects and participate often, a Haiku word board is a great activity that can get everyone involved. First, place a collection of printed words on a nearby desk. Then, have students work in teams to compose their own Haiku using those words. Once each team is finished, have them read their poem aloud to the class.
3. Around The Room – For this activity, line students up in a row and have each contribute one word to the poem until the Haiku is complete. To get started you can present a topic or idea to the class, or, have the first student in line choose a topic and see how the end result matches with what they had in mind.

Will Haikus be the focus of your language arts lessons for the rest of the month? How do you plan to teach them to the class? Visit us on our Facebook page to let us know; and don’t forget to share some of your Haikus too!

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