Lesson Title:

Exploring Haiku through Basho and the Fox

By:

Lynn Hannapel, Wendy Durst, Kelly Hirneisen, and Nancy Kelso

Objective:

  1. Students will develop an understanding of Basho, the man and the poet, as a prominent figure in Japanese literature.
  2. Students will experience Japanese poetry through haiku.

Suggested Grade Level:

3rd grade

Materials:

Resources

  • Basho and the Fox by Tim Myers
  • Haiku: Learn to Express Yourself by Writing Poetry in the Japanese Tradition by Patricia Donegan
  • Grass Sandals - Dawinine Spivak, illustrated by Demi

Regalia, artifacts

  • maps of Japan
  • timeline of Japanese history
  • photos of Yamadera
  • photos of Basho statue
  • statue of Basho
  • print of Basho's poetry

Colorado Model Content Standards:

Geography

Standard 1. Students know how to use and construct maps, globes, and other geographic tools to locate and derive information about people, places, and environments.

Standard 2. Students know the physical and human characteristics of places, and use this knowledge to define and study regions and their patterns of change.

Standard 5. Students understand the effects of interactions between human and physical systems and the changes in meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.

History

Standard 1. Students understand the chronological organization of history and know how to organize events and people into major eras to identify and explain historical relationships.

Standard 6. Students know that religious and philosophical ideas have been powerful forces throughout history.

Reading and Writing

Standard 1. Students read and understand a variety of materials.

Standard 2. Students write and speak for a variety of purposes and audiences.

Standard 3. Students write and speak using conventional grammar, usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.

Standard 4. Students apply thinking skills to their reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing.

Standard 5. Students read and recognize literature as a record of human experience.

Assessment:

Students will be able to place Basho on a Japanese timeline as a prominent figure in Japanese literature.

Students will write an individual haiku.

Rubric:

3 - Writing includes the 6-7 characteristics of haiku and final draft is legible.

2 - Writing includes 4-5 characteristics of haiku and final draft is legible.

1 - Writing has 3 or fewer characteristics of haiku.

Previous Lessons:

Students have created sensory and seasonal word lists.  Students have heard a think-aloud focusing on the setting and characters of the story Basho and the Fox by Tim Myers.  Students have completed a QAR on Basho and the Fox.

Implementation:

Instruction

The intent of the lesson is to focus on the idea of haiku and Basho as a person and poet.

  • Introduce and discuss the 7 characteristics of writing haiku on chart paper. Anchor the idea with examples of each characteristic.
  • Re-read Basho and the Fox and focus on the haiku poetry by doing a think aloud. Discuss the characteristics of haiku in each haiku that Basho writes for the foxes.
  • Read more haiku examples and point out each characteristic and/or have students determine where the poem demonstrates evidence of haiku characteristics.
  • Model writing a haiku with the students using the 7 characteristics.
  • Demonstrate a haiku by doing shared writing of haiku with the students.

Guided Practice:

  • Scaffolding: give the students the first 2 lines of a haiku and have them complete the last line.
  • Example: (from Donegan text)
  • yellow daffodil
  • in the sunny kitchen

Optional prompt:

  • Scaffolding: gave the students a haiku prompt and have students substitute words.
  • Example: (from Donegan text)
  • distant mountains
  • reflected in the ____
  • of ______________

Independent Practice

Students may practice writing their own haiku.

Conclusion

Students create a watercolor picture of their haiku that matches the idea of their individual haiku.  Students will share their haiku in Author's Chair.

Extensions:

  1. Read Grass Sandals.
  2. On a map of Japan, show Basho's travels.
  3. Revisit the photos of the Yamadera region and the Basho statue.
  4. Tea ceremony lesson and its' significance to haiku.
  5. Students can enter haiku contest (see Haiku: Learn to Express Yourself by Writing Poetry in the Japanese Tradition by Patricia Donegan)
  6. Have students explore various website from Haiku: Learn to Express Yourself by Writing Poetry in the Japanese Tradition by Patricia Donegan to find modern haiku.
  7. Students can make individual haiku books.
  8. Teacher can make a class haiku book.