One painting – one haiku
Area
Reading, writing and literature
Duration
1 session
Dimension of the advised group of students
20 students divided into pairs
Specific objectives
α) to develop their powers of observation, imagination and creativity
b) to acquire a positive attitude towards poetry
Needed Materials
-Laptop, tablet or cell phone (one per pair)
-Internet access
-Videoprojector
- paper
Software
The activities are online and onsite
Description
This activity is based on the theory of transformative learning (Mezirow 2007, Kokkos 2017) and creative writing. A piece of artwork is used to help students to develop their powers of observation, imagination and creativity and acquire a positive attitude towards poetry. Haiku is an unrhymed poetic form consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively. The format, it’s simple: three lines total, five syllables in the first and third lines, and seven syllables in the second line. Traditionally, haiku are about nature, so Van Gogh's landscapes are the perfect choice to inspire our students.
Procedure on how to put in practice
- students are divided into pairs. Each pair has a laptop, tablet or cell phone and internet access.
- students visit the Van Gogh museum website, following the link to the landscapes.
- they choose a landscape and copy it into the google presentation that the teacher has given them access to.
- the teacher displays the website on the board and shows how they will work
-students create a haiku based on the painting they have chosen and type it on the google presentation, next to the painting.
-the teacher helps, guides, encourages
At the end, the overall presentation is shown to the whole class.
Debriefing question: Did the painting help to inspire the haiku?
