Poetry Month: Let's Write Some Haiku by Todd Burleson

Dear Colleagues,

April is poetry month.  Last week Jon Muth camme to visit my students.  In addition to sharing his magnificent new book "Hi, Koo" he spoke with us about his process and captivated the students with his large brush painting.  He created a priceless painting for us and absolutley delighted everyone with how warm and kind he was.  If you would like to see a short video that highlights his recent visit, you can view it below. 


Jon Muth Visit from Todd Burleson on Vimeo.

 Writing poetry is like rhubarb; people often love it or hate it.  I would like to help those of you who don't love it to see some pretty simple, but rewarding ways to bring poetry to your students.  We touch on these in our Resource Center times, but you might want to revisit them with your students.  You could use them as a 'center' for kids to go to when they are done, or as a 'choice' time activity too.

Because Haiku has been on our radar since Jon Muth's Hi, Koo visit, take a look at a resource that we've shared with all of the students this past week.  It's from Read, Write, Think.  It is available as an app for iPad and as a 'site' on desktops and laptops.  The app is pretty simple.  It reviews Haiku and then helps the kids brainstorm words.  After creating their own Haiku, the kids can tweak the background, font, etc.  The end result is a beautiful creation.  Imagine collecting all of these from your students as PDF's and turning it into an iBook that could be viewed by students.  That would be awesome! 

 

The app opens with a brief review of what a Haiku poem is.

 

It walks the students through brainstorming words to use in their poem.

 

A neat feature is after brainstorming the words, they appear on the screen as you start to write your poem.

 

The poem appears on a beautiful cherry blossom background, however, the kids can change both the font and backgrounds as they wish.

 

The final product can be emailed, saved for work later, or downloaded to the desktop to be used as desired.

Give this app a try.  I think you'll be pleased.  It's a fun way to explore Japanese Haiku poetry.