Icebreaker-Haiku

• PSHE
• Lower Secondary (Key Stage 3)

Introduction

In this lesson, students will create a haiku about themselves. The other students then try to guess who the haiku belongs to. In this way they get to know each other, in a slightly different way.

Instructions

A Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry, written in three lines of which the first line has 5, the second line 7 and the third line has 5 syllables.

Good to know: the names of the students are not visible when showing the haiku.

Haiku

Icebreaker

Aardappeloproer

1917

Enkele Amsterdamse vrouwen zagen dat er een schip vol aardappelen in een van de grachten lag. Ze gingen erop af en plunderden het schip: hun schorten vol aardappelen. De dag erna waren er meer plunderaars. Pas nadat zes mensen door het leger werden doodgeschoten, keerde de rust terug

Monday morning blues,

Need to get motivated,

It's now or never.

A haiku has a specific pattern that needs to be followed:

• Three lines
• 5 syllables in line one
• 7 syllables in line two
• 5 syllables in line three
• It should relate to the title clearly

For an extra challenge, you might want to use some onomatopoeia to add what is called kireji. This gives the haiku a sense of 'closure'.

Aardappeloproer

1917

Enkele Amsterdamse vrouwen zagen dat er een schip vol aardappelen in een van de grachten lag. Ze gingen erop af en plunderden het schip: hun schorten vol aardappelen. De dag erna waren er meer plunderaars. Pas nadat zes mensen door het leger werden doodgeschoten, keerde de rust terug

Green eyes, brown freckles,

I wear glasses every day.

Calm...but not always.

A haiku has a specific pattern that needs to be followed:

• Three lines
• 5 syllables in line one
• 7 syllables in line two
• 5 syllables in line three
• It should relate to the title clearly

For an extra challenge, you might want to use some onomatopoeia to add what is called kireji. This gives the haiku a sense of 'closure'.

Time for a challenge.

Write your own haiku to share,

You have five minutes!

The students now come up with their own haiku that describes them. They have five minutes for this, but if this is too short, you can start the timer again.

After all students have shared their haiku, they can start to guess who might have created each poem. 

You can do this haiku by haiku, but it can also be fun to give the students a little more freedom and just let them say what they think.

Aardappeloproer

1917

Enkele Amsterdamse vrouwen zagen dat er een schip vol aardappelen in een van de grachten lag. Ze gingen erop af en plunderden het schip: hun schorten vol aardappelen. De dag erna waren er meer plunderaars. Pas nadat zes mensen door het leger werden doodgeschoten, keerde de rust terug