As I whittle away at my paper piles, I have come across many forgotten lesson ideas… Here’s one that is both quick & easy: “A HAIKU for Every Theme”… It covers some Literacy and whatever other subject you or the students wish.

I did these in a Grade 5 classroom.  The teacher wanted me to complete the lesson on writing Haiku, plus she also wished for us to discuss Earth Day and combine the two…

The students enjoyed putting their finished poems up for all to see, plus it gave them motivation to do a great job.  After I showed them the pattern, and we made a couple all together, they were off, some of them creating 2 or 3 in the short time we actually had to work.  They worked on the pictures during their own nutrition break time.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any of their poems or our whole-class creations, but here are some of my attempts…

We care about Earth
We will write poems for HOPE
Others will care, too. S. O. S.

Planet near to death
but (Maybe) it’s not too late.
As ONE, we rally. 

Haiku
Five syllables
And then we want seven more
And five once again  

** Alternatively, as an introduction to Haiku (for a class that is not familiar), I think I would show them about three Haiku Poems and have the students working in small groups to figure out the Rules for Haiku.

Poem by: Dorothy Cameron SmithPhotography by Myself, Nicola Schneider

I have absolutely no idea where this came from… somewhere in England, I think… I may have used it in my teaching there, or I may have just carried it around with me, who knows?.....

Sad students are full of promises and good intentions.  Their favourite expression is, “I’ll do it tomorrow.”  Each day is to be a new beginning but always seems to have the same ending.  For the sad student, “tomorrow” never comes!

Like the fly wandering into the spider’s web, the sad student falls into a pattern of time wasting and self-deception.

First of all, there is the “getting started” phase.  Having decided that tonight’s the night to revise that topic that was postponed from a couple of nights ago, the student gets himself ready to work.  This means making sure that everything is in exactly the right place before he starts.  A good idea in principle, but after five to ten minutes finding things and tidying his desk, he decides to sharpen all his pencils…

Just as he is about to sit down and begin, he remembers that he was going to telephone his girlfriend and knows that if he doesn’t ring her he won’t be able to concentrate during his revision.  The “quick call” takes 20 minutes, not the couple he intended (well, “it’s good to talk” as the adverts tell us!).

The student returns to his desk, opens his file of notes and is just about to start.  A glance at his watch to check the time makes him remember that “Glee” is on in ten minutes!  As it is obviously not worth starting yet, he goes downstairs again, switches on the television and relaxes for a few minutes “channel surfing” then watching the weather forecast until it’s the time that all Gleeks have been waiting all Summer for!

The programme ends and it featured a song that he loves and hadn’t heard in a while.  He feels the need to hear it once more – this time whilst following along with the lyrics.  Forty minutes and one playlist later, he is met with silence and the student is suddenly feeling guilty.  This makes him realize that he is a little hungry and needs a snack of some sort…

His snack attack lasts twenty minutes – ten minutes to prepare, ten to eat while reading the sports page of the newspaper (again) to avoid having to think about what he promised himself he should be studying tonight.

At ten o’clock he trudges back up to his bedroom to begin at last.  After a few minutes reading his notes he starts to feel the effects of his snack and becomes a little drowsy.  This causes him to move to a more comfortable spot where he can put his feet up – his bed…

A noise jolts him awake at quarter to twelve.  He finds the sad debris of his good intentions – his creased and crumpled notes.

A wave of guilt rises up inside.

At this point, the sad student can make a choice.  He can stay up all night or DEFINITELY get the revision done TOMORROW.  Yes, he’ll feel like studying tomorrow!

(Author Unknown)

You could use this in the classroom, for sure!

To think about…

• What do you suppose will happen tomorrow?
• Does this sound at all familiar?
• Suppose this student was your friend.  
• What is some advice you would give your friend in this situation?
  

This was an old assignment I have found among my paper piles… It was written when I was only 14 years old, um, that would be 20 years ago, when I couldn’t even fathom ever being 34 years old!

I am Nikki, but really Nicola.
I am exactly 14 years old (plus one day). 
I am a student in my ninth year, 
at Sir Allan MacNab High School. 

At my tallest, I am five foot seven.
My eyes are greyish-blue
And my hair is blond but almost brown. 
I am older than Mali, Tara and Darryl,
Younger than Lisa, Shauna, Cindy and Lori.
My birthday is in March,
Almost April.

I love warm weather 
and fluffy, white snow
And Christmas and summer.
When I was little, 
I watched Sesame Street and cartoons.
I still watch cartoons, 
but not Sesame Street- very often. 

My room is a mess
Because I like it that way.
Books and clothes are all over the floor,
But what else are floors for?
It’s organized chaos. 

I wish I were rich,
And if I were 
I’d have a bigger house,
More clothes,
And an expensive sports car.
I’d travel all over the world 
in my very own private jet.
But I’m not rich.
Dreams are free.

I love my psycho mother,
My brother, who is my friend,
And Coffee, my cat.

My name is Nikki.

(Written, April 1st, 1991)