Description: Students will discuss the typical characteristics of senryu that they observed based on the reading from Friday and share their senryu with the class. We will also work with a few handouts from the British Haiku Society's teaching kit on season words, images and meanings in preparation for tomorrow's haiku editing session. We will finalize the theme for the kukai and students will continue writing their original haiku for class tomorrow.

Standards
IL.1.A.4b: Compare the meaning of words and phrases and use analogies to explain the relationships among them.
IL.1.A.5b: Analyze the meaning of abstract concepts and the effects of particular word and phrase choices.
IL.1.C.4e: Analyze how authors and illustrators use text and art to express and emphasize their ideas (e.g., imagery, multiple points of view).
IL.1.C.5d: Summarize and make generalizations from content and relate them to the purpose of the material.
IL.1.C.5e: Evaluate how authors and illustrators use text and art across materials to express their ideas (e.g., complex dialogue, persuasive techniques).
IL.2.A.4a: Analyze and evaluate the effective use of literary techniques (e.g., figurative language, allusion, dialogue, description, symbolism, word choice, dialect) in classic and contemporary literature representing a variety of forms and media.
IL.2.A.4d: Describe the influence of the author's language structure and word choice to convey the author's viewpoint.
IL.4: GOAL: Listen and speak effectively in a variety of situations.
IL.4.A.4a: Apply listening skills as individuals and members of a group in a variety of settings (e.g., lectures, discussions, conversations, team projects, presentations, interviews).
IL.4.A.4b: Apply listening skills in practical settings (e.g., classroom note taking, interpersonal conflict situations, giving and receiving directions, evaluating persuasive messages).

Objectives
Students will determine the essential characteristics of senryu
Students will share their original senryu with classmates
Students will listen respectfully to the work of their peers
Students will discuss the importance of season words, images and meanings from haiku worksheets
Students will finalize a theme for the unit-ending kukai

Materials
Teacher: handouts - "Season Words," "The Power of Images," "Putting Images and Meaning into Context,"
Students: last night's reading selections, original senryu, handouts provided by instructor, utensils for note taking

Instructional Procedure
We will begin as usual by discussing last night's reading - what senryu did students particularly like or identify with?
As is customary, if no one is talking (hopefully that will not be the case at this point!), I will offer my own opinion:

wedding picture
each face finds
a different camera

I like this haiku because it presents a very clear image, and a situation to which almost anyone can relate. In the professional pictures, everyone smiles for the same camera, but inevitably there are five or six people hovering behind the photographer, trying to snap their own shots and everyone's eyes seem to look somewhere different - some seek out the camera wielded by a friend or spouse, others look at the nearest lens, and still others seem to be looking entirely elsewhere. It brings a bit of comedy and lightheartedness to the occasion.

After we have discussed the senryu selections, I will ask students to share their original senryu with the class. Of course, they will not be required to do so.

We will then move on to discuss the three handouts on season words, images and meaning. These handouts were adapted from the British Haiku Society Teaching Kit, and I feel they will give students a better idea of how to write their own haiku.

The sheets themselves are relatively self-explanatory (and have been included in the appendix). We will begin with season words. Though they are not a necessary component of Western haiku, sometimes they are able to evoke a stronger feeling of place or time. Students should read through the lists of season words provided and try to add some of their own. We will do this activity as a class.

For instance, under "summer," students could also add: ice cream, Ferris wheel, long days, August sun, etc.

We will then move on to the handout on the power of images. A number of images have been provided on the sheet, we will discuss which images in particular are powerful for students and which are sort of blah. How might we change some of the "blah" images to make them more powerful? What constitutes a powerful image?

Students will then have the opportunity to think of some images on their own that they can identify with - images they see every day. For instance: dusty chalkboard, flickering fluorescent lights, etc.

Finally, we will move on to discuss the final handout, on putting images and meaning into context. Context is very important in haiku; a reader's understanding of a writer's context can make or break the haiku itself. This is why many Western readers do not appreciate Japanese haiku at first - we do not have the same cultural context and therefore do not understand all of the references. Students will work through the images presented on the handout (until we run out of time or the endless leaf images become too monotonous) and decide what each image means for them. There are, of course, a multitude of answers for each image.

For instance, to me, a green leaf falling seems to indicate that the tree is unhealthy, because leaves generally do not fall until they turn brown.

Or, the first colored leaf of autumn symbolizes a time of change; there's almost an electricity in the air, and it won't be long before every tree is alive with color.

We will stop ten minutes before the end of the period to discuss the final theme for the kukai. Students can choose whatever they want, though I would suggest a topic that leaves a number of avenues open to interpretation (i.e., a kukai containing only haiku about going to Florida would not garner as many interesting responses as a kukai about childhood). Students will be reminded to bring their haiku collections to class tomorrow, as we will spend the entire period working on editing.

Assessment
There is no assessment for today. Students should follow along on the handouts, and are encouraged to fill in the blanks, but the handouts are meant mostly for reference or brainstorming purposes and will not be collected. Students should continue working on their haiku collections - especially since we have finalized the theme for the kukai - for tomorrow's editing session.