Nature Haikus

Activity Overview

Chunking out words to find syllables is an important pre-reading strategy that builds fluency and decoding skills to better prepare young students as they journey further into early reading. This activity builds upon the learning that students have done with poetry and syllables, and offers a new framework to build upon - the haiku poem. Haikus offer students the opportunity to harness those blossoming pre-reading skills and apply them to their writing. The simple structure of a haiku supports students as they venture into the literary concept of poetry.

What You Need

• “Lion of the Sky” on Epic

• Haiku Poem template

• Writing utensils

• Scissors (optional)

• Sidewalk chalk (optional)

Steps

1. Read “Lion of the Sky” on Epic. Each page is a Haiku poem with clues for the reader to guess what the poem was written about. Read each “riddle” Haiku and see if you can guess what the subject of each haiku is.

2. Think about some of your favorite experiences outdoors. Have a discussion using the guiding questions.

3. Using some of those ideas, print the Haiku Poem template to write your own nature haiku poems. To scaffold the writing task, consider doing just one or two lines each day. Grownups may want to use highlighter to write the words that students want to use, and then have students practice letter formation by tracing over the highlighted letters.

Note: If your student does not follow the haiku syllable structure exactly, that is perfectly fine! What is more important is giving your student the opportunity to find joy and humor in the creative process and exposing them to their persona as poets.

Guiding Questions

• What is a syllable? How do we count out syllables?

• What do you notice about how the poems are written?

• Can you think of other ways to describe the subject of each poem?

• What are some of your favorite things to do outside? What are some favorite places to visit?

• What makes those experiences so special?

• How does your body feel when you are outside doing your favorite thing in your favorite place? Prompt your student for sensory details: What do you (smell, hear, see.)?

• When (season, weather, holiday) is your favorite time to visit that place? Why?

Extensions

• Stack each page of the template in order to create a book. Staple together or hole punch the pages and use string, yarn, or brads to keep the pages together. Cut off the instructions from the top section of the template pages to create a book. Decorate it if your student prefers!

• Alternatively, use this activity as a first iteration and create a “finished” draft of your poem on a large piece of paper and decorate.

• Share your poem by writing it in sidewalk chalk. Write it near the place that inspired your poem for other people to enjoy. Alternatively, write it in your neighborhood, include the directions for other people to write their own poems, and leave out some sidewalk chalk. Enjoy other people’s haikus!