Teach Haiku, Close Reading, and Cross-Curricular Learning with Riddle-ku
Riddle-ku: Haiku for Very Close Reading makes teaching haiku to children easy with 30 American-style (5-7-5) haiku by award-winning poet Laura Purdie Salas (author of BookSpeak!, Water Can Be..., and more). Each haiku speaks from the voice of a common object recognizable to kids from kindergarten age up. These riddle poems make excellent close reading passages, as students study images and text and make inferences to answer them. A Note from the Poet with each poem shares Laura's writing process. Vivid language and rich nonfiction content-along with a sense of wonder and a dash of humor-make these poems engaging and accessible. Extension materials by Marcie Flinchum Atkins, including close reading activities, share ideas for springboarding from these riddle poems/haiku into deeper learning across many content areas.
Sample:
This merry-go-round
spins upside down: I'm singing
the room full of breeze
Answer: ceiling fan
A Note from the Poet:
Most haiku don't have a sing-song rhythm (da-DUM, da-DUM, etc.). But since a ceiling fan has a steady beat, I had fun trying to make this haiku have a beat, a rhythm.
The 30 PAINLESS CLASSROOM POEMS series
Are you uncomfortable with teaching poetry? Do you wonder what poems mean, how to meet Common Core poetry standards, and how to fit poems into your day? These are some of the issues educators face with teaching poems to elementary students. Let 30 Painless Classroom Poems make it easy! Each book features 30 or more short poems for the classroom, Notes from the Poet, activities/lesson plans for teaching poems-written by an experienced classroom teacher, and tips for weaving poetry into your classroom. Terrific for National Poetry Month or everyday use! See all of the 30 Painless Classroom Poems at 30PainlessClassroomPoems.com.
NOTE: In the 30 Painless Classroom Poems books, some sections, such as Why Poetry Is Important and Classroom Poetry Tips, repeat from book to book. But the poems, Notes from the Poet, and activities and poetry lesson plans are unique in each book.
As a kid, Laura Purdie Salas devoured books. Her three big sisters taught her to read when she was 4, and she read constantly, ignoring orders from her parents to "Go outside and get some fresh air!" She grew up in Florida and heard these dreaded words year round. When forced outside, she climbed up to her treehouse or lay on the trampoline, reading. Books were magic, and it never occurred to her that real people actually wrote them.
Today, Laura is thrilled to be part of creating that magic for today's kids. She has written more than 120 books for kids and teens, including Water Can Be... (Millbrook, 2014), A Leaf Can Be... (Millbrook, 2012: Bank Street Best Books, IRA Teachers' Choice, Minnesota Book Award Finalist, Riverby Award for Nature Books for Young Readers, and more), and BookSpeak! Poems About Books (Clarion/HMH, 2011: Minnesota Book Award, NCTE Notable, Bank Street Best Books, Eureka! Gold Medal, and more). She loves to visit with students and teachers to share her joy in poetry, books, and language. She is also the author of several how-to poetry books for kids, including Picture Yourself Writing Poetry (Capstone, 2011) and Write Your Own Poetry (Compass Point, 2008).
Laura and her family live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where it's just a touch cooler than Florida!
Learn more about Laura at laurasalas.com
