Module 3- Poetic Form

Clements, Andrew, Bowers, Tim ill. Dogku, New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2007. ISBN-978-1-428-74864-4

Review:

Clements cleverly tells a tale about a homeless dog finding a home through haiku poems. This book is a wonderful introduction to the poetic form of haikus. Clements uses the format effectively to tell Mooch's story. As shown below, Clements humor is combined with haiku format in finding the perfect name for the dog. The illustrations by Tim Bowers also gives insight to the dog's new name, as he is seen mooching food from the family's breakfast. Even the name of the book is a play on the word haiku- Clements combined the poetic form with the subject of the poems thus creating Dogku. Clements includes an author's note at the end of the book explaining the rules of haiku-"A haiku is so simple-only 17 syllables, 5/7/5". Clements tone throughout the book and author's note is so positive, friendly, and encouraging about haikus, that students will be willing to try some of the fun involved in writing haikus.

   

Introduction:

Haikus use a pattern. Introduce patterns to students by using dominoes. Using a document camera and LCD projector place dominoes in a 5,7,5,5,7,5, and 5 pattern. Have students tell what the pattern is and what the next set of numbers should be.

Poem: from Dogku by Andrew Clements

A dog needs a name.

Rags? Mutt? Pooch? No, not Rover.

Mooch. Yes, Mooch! Perfect.

Extension:

Have a selection of words with 1-5 syllables written on the board or chart paper. Have students try to guess how many syllables are in each word. If students are having trouble breaking words into syllables, have students clap the syllabic patterns of each word. For example, the word chocolate will have 3 claps. Rewrite the words broken up by syllables to help students in needed. Then have students add their own words to the list. The list can be placed in the classroom as an anchor chart when writing haikus.