How to Write a Haiku

Series Summary

Good writing is an important skill that can be used in a variety of media. Whether it's writing a meeting agenda, a toast or a magazine article, the ability to effectively communicate to a large audience stems from knowledge and execution of proper writing techniques. With such knowledge comes an understanding of the distinct differences in writing styles between creative writing, journalism, technical writing and informal writing. In this free video series on writing lessons, teacher Laura Minnigerode discusses how to teach and write various documents. Minnegerode begins by explaining how to write a haiku, a Native American wedding prayer and a contract for a nanny. She discusses how to teach children various writing skills, such as simple sentences, paragraph writing, argumentative writing, narrative writing and even number writing. Minnegerode then reveals the process involved for becoming a certified grant writer, writing federal grants and research grants. Watch these free videos and enjoy more writing lessons today.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Laura from YoungWriter'sWorkshops.com. We're going to talk about how to write a Haiku. Haiku is a really interesting writing format. It's a really good one to use with young writer's, because it's short, and it can contain a single thought. So, it's easy for a writer to really grab onto, and be creative. Haiku is seventeen syllables. It's generally five syllables, seven syllables, and five syllables. So, three lines, seventeen syllables total. Now, it's a Japanese writing form, and originally was purely a, a nature poem. Something, an idea from nature. This is change over time, there are some humorous Haiku. And, it's expanded to be much more broad in, in English. But, if you're going to teach the writing form, it's a great thing to, to help kids get started, by teaching them to write about nature. So, I, I have one right here that we can talk about now. It's an "unwrit", un-rhymed writing form. And as I said, the first line will be five syllables. "Mine is leaves with specks of gold." Since it's un-rhymed form, the next line won't rhyme, it will expand on that idea, give you some action that the, that relates back to the first line. So, the second line is, "Gently dance above the earth". Then the last line, also five syllables, is, "The tree is left there". Now, when you're talking with your students about writing a Haiku, you want to evoke some imagery. Help them think about "ho", what are some things in nature that they could describe, that, that will illustrate an idea? And then, the, the other point to make with student's about writing Haiku, is that often the poem ends with a contrast. So, in this poem, we talked about leaves fluttering in the air, and then at the end, there's a contrast about the, the bare tree, which is a little bit more of a darker image. So, to somewhat, the Haiku is a nature poem, about one idea. It doesn't tell a story, and it often ends in a contrast. Five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables, and that's how to write a Haiku."