Poetry from Three Nations (Elementary)
These lesson plans will focus on three forms of poetry, one each from China, Japan, and Korea. My dream for these lessons would be for them to be part of a larger unit during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month as recognized by Los Angeles Unified School District. It could cover three weeks, one week for each of the three countries. Each week could focus on the language, foods, history, and other cultural aspects of the country for that week. These poetry lessons would be just one aspect of the heritage celebration. The order of the countries could be determined by the instructor and could be accompanied by the use of the three videos produced by Schlessinger Media (Chinese-American Heritage, Japanese-American heritage, Korean-American heritage). I chose to teach them in the following order (Haiku, Sijo, Jueju) in order to build from a lower number of syllables to a higher number of syllables needed.
Rationale
California in general and Los Angeles in specific are places of rich diversy in cultures. It is important for students to recognize this diversity, learn from it, and benefit from seeing life from many different points of view. Additionally, the novelty of studying other cultures often helps motivate students to learn things they might usually resist learning. For example, studying syllables in order to complete a haiku correctly may be more motivating than other traditional methods of teaching syllables.
Skills and Content Objectives
California Common Core State Standards Addressed:
RF 3.4b Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
RL 3.2 Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
RL 3.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.
RL 3.5 Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.
ELD Pl.3.12 Selecting and applying varied and precise vocabulary and language structures to effectively convey ideas.
Students will write a haiku, a sijo, and a jueju of their own. They will understand how to count the syllables used in their poetry. They will understand how to use figurative and nonfigurative language. They will understand how to write using strong imagery.
Lesson Plan
(While these lessons could be done one per day, I envision spending one week on each poem, giving students time daily to collaborate during the writing process for revision and editing and ultimately sharing their work in written and oral form.)
Haiku: Tell students they will be writing their own Haiku, a Japanese form of poetry. Introduce this poetry by using the website https://www.kidzone.ws/poetry/haiku.htm. Use one of the three printable worksheets found at the bottom of that website. Show the video found at the following site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkiTLxIQhdw. Answer initial questions students have regarding the writing of their haikus. Give students time to write. Have the students share their writing with partners in order to revise and edit. Have students write a published copy of their haiku and illustrate it. Have students present their haikus through reading their haikus aloud to the class.
Sijo: Tell students they will be writing their own Sijo, a Korean form of poetry. Introduce this poetry by using the donut sijo on the website https://www.playfullearning.net/resource/sijo-poetry-for-kids/. Read other sijo examples from the author featured on the website. Discuss how a sijo has three to six lines (teachers may assign the exact number of lines wanted for ease of grading). Discuss how each line of the sijo must have fourteen to sixteen syllables. Discuss how the sijo has a funny or twisted surprise during the last line. Answer initial questions students have regarding the writing of their sijos. Give students time to write. Have the students share their writing with partners in order to revise and edit. Have students write a published copy of their sijo and illustrate it. Have students present their sijo through reading aloud to the class.
Jueju: Tell students they will be writing a Jueju, a Chinese form of poetry. Introduce this poetry using “Spring Lament” jueju on the website https://www.poetspoetrypoems.com/categories/listings/jueju.html. Use other examples and then the “Rules and Guidelines” found on the website https://nie.newsok.com/wp-content/uploads/Asian-Heritage-Student-Poster.pdf to further understanding. Discuss how a jueju is always a quatrain (four line poem). Each line consists of five syllables (wujue) or seven syllables (qijue). Tell students that in this lesson they will focus on the seven syllable type of jueju. Discuss that the jueju uses monosyllabic words. Discuss how the jueju introduces a scene from nature in the first line. It deepens the scene from nature in the second line. It moves to the author’s feelings in the third line and then concludes with a fourth line that completes the picture from nature. Answer initial questions students have regarding the writing of their juejus. Give students time to write. Have the students share their writing with partners in order to revise and edit. Have students write a published copy of their jueju and illustrate it. Have students present their jueju through reading aloud to the class.
Assessment (Simple criteria charts and rubric for assessment of poetry)
Haiku: 1 point for correct format of haiku (5, 7, 5 syllable count), 1 point for use of strong imagery, 1 point for writing about nature, 1 point for correct spelling of words. This allows you to have a four-point rubric.
Sijo: 1 point for writing three to six lines. 1 point for having fourteen to sixteen syllables per line. 1 point for having a twist or surprise on the last line. 1 point for spelling all words correctly. This allows for a four-point rubric.
Jueju: 1 point for having seven syllables per line, using monosyllabic words. 1 point for having four lines. 1 point for depicting a scene from nature in lines 1, 2, and 4, and shifting to emotions in line 3. 1 point for spelling words correctly. This allows for a four-point scoring on the rubric.
If desired, teachers could use a reading rubric or a speaking/listening rubric for the oral presentations of the poems in class.
Resources:
https://www.kidzone.ws/poetry/haiku.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkiTLxIQhdw
https://www.playfullearning.net/resource/sijo-poetry-for-kids/
https://nie.newsok.com/wp-content/uploads/Asian-Heritage-Student-Poster.pdf
https://www.poetspoetrypoems.com/categories/listings/jueju.html