ELT News Think Tank

This Month's Think Tank Panel

Marc Helgesen

Peter Viney

Curtis Kelly

Chuck Sandy

Chris Hunt

Panelists: Peter | Marc | Curtis | Chuck | Chris
Date: October 2003

Topic: "How can we use poetry in the language classroom?"

Haiku Hike

Marc Helgesen

Today's different. Autumn. A Japanese way. But it's in English.

5 7 5

Autumn has arrived. The days have cooled down. And one of these days, when the weather feels right, I'll take my students outside for a haiku hike.* They write haiku and share it with each other.

There is a pond hidden in a forest on the back part of the campus where I teach, so I'm lucky. It really is a hike. But I used to do this in the summer. As often as not, rainy season didn't cooperate so we would sit in a sheltered area and write out poems as we heard summer sound of the rain on concrete - probably a more realistic summer image for most urban Japanese anyway.

“The 5-7-5 structure of the haiku actually makes them easier to write than free verse.”

We start the class by going over haiku and related types of Japanese poetry. Haiku, of course, is distinct with its rhythm of a five-syllable line, follow by one with seven syllables. Finally it closes with another five-syllable line. In Japanese, a season word (kigo) is very important. I explain that in English, it isn't as important although English haiku usually has some reference to nature (the weather, insect, seasons, nature sounds.) Also, like Japanese haiku, the English version usually is written in the present tense.

We also talk about other related styles such as Tanka (like haiku, but with a two-line summary. The syllable structure is 5-7-5, 7-7).

They can also work with a partner to write renga. Renga is like tanka except that two people do it. The first writes the 5-7-5 introduction and the partner writes the 7-7 summary or response.

The introduction done, I give everyone two or three small slips of paper (about 9cm x 6cm/ 2 ½ inches x 4 inches) and we head outside to relax, think and write.

The 5-7-5 structure of the haiku actually makes them easier to write than free verse. Trying to make their haiku fit provides something of a task (as opposed to the totally openness/lack of support of: "OK, be creative. Write a poem in English. See you in a half hour." Of course, figuring out how English syllabication actually works (that "autumn" has two syllables and "pond" has only one - they are not au-ta-mu and pon-do) is something of a challenge and they don't always get the 5-7-5 correct. But they are thinking about (which is more than you can say about a lot of pronunciation practice.)

As the students write, I circulate and help with vocabulary, encouragement and, depending on the weather, insect repellant. Of course, I write one or two haiku myself.

After 30 or 40 minutes, we regroup. Usually in small groups, students share what they have written. I often collect the haiku and either glue them to a large "Our haiku hike" poster or make copies of their poems to distribute during the next class.

It is a one-off. I don't use poetry a lot, but I do like the occasions dip into it. And what the students come up with can be fun. As I mentioned, there is a pond behind my school. Here's one of my favorites at that a student wrote:

This natural place
Frogs and big bees. Spiders? Snakes?
This dangerous place

Before leaving the topic of haiku, I should mention two haiku websites I love. They contain " dog haiku" and " cat haiku" (the poems purportedly written by canines and felines, respective - I know this is hard to believe but I read it on the Internet so it must be true, right?). We talk about bit about "dog people" and "cat people." The students decide which they are and go to the appropriate web site, read some haiku and see which they understand, think are funny, which seem like a dog or cat they know and which they like best. A couple fav's. I think you'll know which is by which animal.

I am your best friend,
Now, always, and especially
When you are eating.

Terrible battle
I fought for hours. Come and see!
What's a "term paper"?

There's also a site for road rage haiku (honku.org). And one for haiku about Spam (spamhaiku.com) though I've always thought that bad taste.

* I first learned about using haiku and the idea of a haiku hike from an article by Alicia Rowe in the JALT Language Teacher.

Panelists: Peter | Marc | Curtis | Chuck | Chris

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Marc Helgesen, Miyagi Gakuin Women's College

Co-author of English Firsthand and Active Listening

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