A Haiku Lesson for Elementary Students By Naomi Beth Wakan As this will be a brief introduction to the teaching of haiku, I should immediately simplify things for you by letting you know that firstly, the 5,7,5 syllable count of Japanese haiku is not applicable to writing haiku in English, where the syllable is much…

by Catherine Graham Before purchasing a CD or downloading tunes, we often taste the music beforehand; have a listen and then decide. Do we like it? Do we want these sounds to be part of our lives? We need to do the same for poetry.

Part I: Introduction – Reading Poetry Online Ezra Pound is laking it on Niagara. Ezra Pound is picking up tickets for the ballet. Ezra Pound packing his snow board. Ezra Pound misses Matt. :-(. Ezra Pound wants you to be at his launch party on Monday night. Reach for the stars! Ezra Pound is hee…

By John Oughton Poems often begin in memory and end in discovery. –Glen Sorestad Getting Started Many poems use some relatively simple process or “trick” to create their effects. Glen Sorestad suggests one above, which reveals how many poems based on family memories, snapshots, or historical events work. Understanding the process makes it easier to…

By Dawna Proudman Reading strong poems, full of metaphor, imagery and feeling, will automatically trigger deep responses and inspire stronger writing. I read Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird” to a grade two class in downtown Toronto. After class, a boy waited patiently to speak with me. He spoke so softly I had to bend close to…