Haikus and Scikus are Short 

 One Breath Poems

 

The Shortest Motion Pictures You Can Make in Words!

 

 

•  Ancient traditional Haikus follow a 5 syllable/7 syllable /5 syllable structure written in 3 lines.* 

 

• Haikus emerged from a collaborative form of Japanese poetry known as Renga meaning linked poem.
• The opening stanza of a Renga is the origin of the haiku.

 

• Contemporary or modern haiku or sciku are written in 3 or 4 lines and syllables are not counted.

 

• A One Breath Poem is a way to define Haikus! Scikus! Their length is only what can be said in one breath.

 

 

*Remember: Words in other languages might contain more or less syllables than in English, meaning translated Haikus will not always fit the structure! 

 

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Free-Form Haikus

     (Try making one yourself!)

 

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Scikus 

 

 

Learn about science and haiku at the Sciku Project

 

• The image to the right is a sciku based on a photograph

 

"Climate change buffer  
Particles settle in grass  
Seagrass meadows rule" 

Sciku by Bob

 

Piles of snow

Slinking away

as the days grow warmer 

 

 

 

 

Sciku, A Collection of Illustrated Science Poetry

 

 

 

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Picture Books for Haiku Writing

 

Earth Verse:  Haiku from the Ground Up.  Sally M. Walker.  Illustrated by William Grill.  Candlewick Press, 2018.

If It Rains Pancakes: Haiku and Lantern Poems. Brian P. Cleary. Illustrated by Andy Rowland. Millbrook Press, 2014

Dogku. Andrew Clements. Illustrated by Tim Bowers. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2014

GUYKU: A Year of Haiku for Boys. Rob Raczka. Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Houghton Mifflin, 2010

A Pocketful of Poems. Nikki Grimes. Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe. Clarion Books, 2001

 

 

 

More on Haikus 

 

Poetic Form: Haiku from Poets.org (Academy of American Poets)

 

Examples of Famous Haikus

 

Sample Haiku from Basho, Issa and western poets

  Online Resources and Apps

 

• NYT Haikus

 

• Haiku Starter is a writing interactive from National Council of Teachers of English

 

• Haiku Poem App (also from NCTE)
• You can import photos and images; page elements can be sized and rotated; different font sizes are available

 

• Haiku Poem, a free app from the International Reading Association

 

• THF Haiku App from the Haiku Foundation

 

     • How-to Haiku Elementary Lesson on YouTube

 

 

 

 

Haiku from the Poetry Through the Ages website

 

• One of the oldest poetry formats
• Began in the late 15th century, emerging from a longer poetic form called Renga

 

• Matsuo Basho, one of Japan's most celebrated haiku poest, wrote in the 16th century
• Features pinpoint observations of moments and movements in nature
• Has a simple 3 line, 17 syllable structure

 

 

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RELEVANT FAMOUS FIGURES 

 

Matsuo Basho

 

Matsuo Basho, from Poetry Foundation
Born: 1644
Began Publishing Poetry: 1676
First of His Five Famous Travels Around Japan: 1684


Haiku of Basho

Basho Frog Haiku: 31 Translations

Issa

Kobayashi Issa

Kobauyashi Issa (1763-1828)

Haiku with Issa

 

Kaga no Chiyo (1703-1775)

 

Kaga no Chiyo was a female Haiku master, known for her connections between nature and human emotion. 

 

"Airing Out Kimonos"- Kaga no Chiyo

airing out kimonos
as well as her heart --
never enough

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Interactive Haiku Poetry Writing Sites

What is Haiku? from ReadWriteThink, National Council of Teachers of English

Interactive Haiku Generator

Five Creative Ways to Teach Haiku from Scholastic

 

Haiku Poetry by American Poets

Book of Haiku, Jack Kerouac

Haiku Poetry by Richard Wright

Haiku by Etheridge Knight

 

Sokka's Tale of Ba Sing Se- A humorous take on haiku from Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender. Watch below!