• Observe students as they write their own poetry and offer assistance as needed.
• The haiku will indicate whether the class understands the characteristics of this type of poem and which individuals need additional assistance. These haiku may also offer material that can be used at a later point in the lesson so that students can practice transforming someone else’s details into a different poetic form.
• Students’ paragraphs about their own free verse will show their degree of understanding about some of the specifics of poetic form and its relationship to author’s purpose and the function of the poem. Provide individual feedback to help students assess their progress toward the goals of the lesson.

Focus Question: How do different forms of poetry use language to convey images?

Ask students to brainstorm characteristics of poetry. Record their responses on the board/interactive whiteboard. Have students revisit the list at the end of the lesson to compare their prior knowledge of poetry with what they have learned about different forms of poetry.

Part 1

“We are going to look at several types of poems, beginning with haiku, a form of poetry from Japan. As you read these examples of haiku, think about the ways in which they are alike.”

Have students work in groups to read three haiku by the Japanese poet Issa: “On a branch. . .,” “Mosquito at my ear,” and “Even with insects.”

Have each group share one or two characteristics they identified (a three-line poem, middle line longer than the other two, first and third lines about the same length, very short, no rhyme, uses simple words, describes something in nature, focuses on something very small, appeals to senses, timeless, shows a connection between nature and people, simple, powerful image, not a lot of description, is a tiny poem about a vivid moment).

“Although it is often said that a haiku must have three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, that is an English interpretation. A haiku written in Japanese refers to 17 sounds rather than 17 syllables. Many modern writers have written haiku. The noted American author Richard Wright composed thousands of haiku during the last few months of his life. You will notice that Wright does adhere to the 5-7-5 syllable count in his poems.”

Have the groups read a few of Wright’s haiku, especially 67, 240, and 611.

Ask students to identify what the poet wanted the reader to take away from each haiku (the day is so overpoweringly long that even the sparrows are overwhelmed by it at sunset, a frog with an impressive voice is demanding the appearance of the moon for his evening activities, the popcorn man is closing up shop as the snowfall starts).

Have each group examine other haiku by modern writers, such as Jim Kacian, Robert Spiess, John Stevenson, and Anita Virgil, and note the variations in form. Reference The Haiku Anthology, edited by Cor van den Heuvel mentioned in the Materials list.

Ask students to identify differences they notice between modern and traditional haiku and share their observations with the rest of the class (they don’t always deal with nature; there are variations in format, capitalization, and punctuation).

“Now compose at least one haiku of your own. You may be strictly traditional in the form you use or you may use one of the variations we have looked at.”

Model the following haiku (or one you write):

Howling in the dark

Shattering peaceful dreaming

Lonely coyote

Allow time for students to write. [IS.9 - Struggling Learners] Then ask students if any of them would like to share their haiku by reading it aloud.

Part 2

“The next type of poem we will look at is the quatrain. A quatrain is a four-line poem or stanza. As you read these examples of quatrain, think about the ways in which they use language to convey images.”

Have each group read and share their ideas about “The Empty Quatrain” by Henry Van Dyke, “The Tiger” by William Blake, and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost (uses lots of adjectives, uses metaphors such as the one that speaks of a quatrain in terms of a fancy cup, uses personification such as when the stars “threw down their spears and watered heaven with their tears,” has some room to describe things in more detail).

“Now I would like you to write a quatrain, using the same idea you used for your haiku.”

Model the following quatrain (or one you write):

A distant howl on a frost-filled night

Chills the heart with a lonely delight,

Breaks the crisp silence with a warning dire

And draws us closer to the flickering fire.

Discuss how details are added and changed. The setting is more detailed—rather than “the dark,” it is by a “flickering fire” on “a frost-filled night.” More detail is given about the effect of the coyote’s howl on the speaker—rather than “shattering peaceful dreaming,” it “chills the heart with a lonely delight.”

Allow time for students to write. [IS.10 - Struggling Learners] Then ask students if any of them would like to share their quatrain by reading it aloud.

Part 3

“The next type of poem we will look at is the sonnet. The Shakespearean, or English, sonnet is composed of three quatrains and one couplet (a usually rhyming pair of lines). This format presents the situation in the first eight lines of the poem and the speaker’s conclusion about that situation in the final six lines.”

Have students read “Sonnet 29” by William Shakespeare and share their ideas about the poet’s purpose (to show that the speaker cannot remain downcast by anything when remembering that s/he is loved by the person being addressed in the poem).

Part 4

“We have examined poems that have fairly predictable patterns, and we have seen the ways in which those patterns often influence and sometimes limit what is said and how it is said. Now we are going to look at a type of poetry called free verse. In free verse there is no set metrical pattern. As you read this example of free verse, make notes on the characteristics of its form, its use of language to convey images, and the poet’s purpose for writing the poem.”

Have students read and share their ideas about “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop (no rhyme; lines are of varying lengths; there is a natural, conversational style; the poet seems to be talking to the reader; uses similes to compare the fish’s skin to wallpaper, its flesh to feathers, and its swim-bladder to a peony; uses a multitude of physical details—“battered and venerable and homely,” “dramatic reds and blacks of his shiny entrails”—to show respect for the courage and endurance of the fish).

“Now I would like you to write a free verse poem, using the same idea you used for your haiku and your quatrain.”

Model the following free verse (or one you write):

I heard a distant coyote

and his howl woke me

abruptly, pulling me from my dreams.

The howling chilled me more than the frosty night air

that surrounded me, and I moved closer to the flickering fire.

Allow time for the students to write. [IS.11 - Struggling Learners] Then ask students if any of them would like to share their free verse by reading it aloud.

Have students write a paragraph about their own free verse fragment, noting what they tried to accomplish (the author’s purpose) and how they used details of form to try to accomplish it. [IS.12 - Struggling Learners]

Collect the paragraphs for the End-of-Unit Assessment.

Extension:

• Students who need additional practice working with poetic forms or author’s purpose may use the sources listed under Related Resources. Provide small-group practice under your supervision.
• Students who are ready to move beyond the standard may compose additional poems in the form of their choice.