Haiku Poetry English vs Japanese Form

Haiku Poetry 5-7-5 - Right?

This unit aims to move beyond the English tradition of the 5-7-5 by exploring the Japanese form and how it compares to the translated form.

This mini unit begins with a 4 page handout exploring the Japanese form with examples that counts onji, rather than syllables. It walks the reader through the Japanese structures, forms, of the traditional Haiku in comparison to the English form.

After the handout, there is a work page that will allow students to craft both the English 5-7-5 Haiku, and the Japanese form.

Attached is an extension Haiku assignment that will take students outside to become inspired by nature and construct additional Haiku based on their experience outside.

Given the complexity of the Japanese form beyond the simple 5-7-5 form, I would not recommend this below grade 5 unless you have a strong class. The complexity added to the Japanese form will help make this relevant to higher level grades as it will require more thinking involved - but accessible to all the way through high school

file should have both a PDF in case the formatting is off when opening, and Word document which you can edit should you wish to add new ideas to the file