I am happy to welcome this “how to haiku” handbook into the world (for ages 8 & up)! I fell in love with words from the moment I met them and wrote my first poem when I was eight years old. This is the book I wish I had when I was young. A book that would not only teach me simple ways to understand and write haiku but one that also said that my words were worthwhile, and my poetry was worth sharing. This book is part technique, part pep-talk, and part wordplay with a whole lot of templates and haiku crafts. I hope you love it as much as I do and will share the love by introducing it to kids, teachers, librarians, and parents
Continue readingPoetry Templates & lesson plans
Celebrate National Poetry Month with “H Is For Haiku” (with lesson plan)

Today, I have the pleasure of introducing you to H is For Haiku, a beautiful book on Haiku written by the late Sydell Rosenberg (1929-1996) published by Penny Candy Books. Syd was a charter member of the Haiku Society of America in 1968. She wrote and published her work over a literary career spanning roughly three decades. On this, the first day of National Poetry Month, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate! (And for dessert, we’ll be enjoying a mother-daughter haiku collaboration in a special book below by Syd and her daughter, Amy Losak.
Continue readingHow To Write a Fibonacci Poem (with template)

The Fibonacci sequence is a mathematical pattern that occurs naturally in nature. Flower petals, rows of sunflower seeds, and pinecone nubs are just a few of nature’s creations that follow the pattern of each row equaling the sum of the two rows before.
Continue readingHow Do You Haiku? #5 Saijiki (Season Word Dictionary) With Template

UPDATE 8.19.23: DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, THIS HOW DO YOU HAIKU BLOG SERIES IS NOW A BOOK! AVAILABLE SEPT 1, 2023. 🙂
Welcome to the fifth installment of our seven-post series on Haiku! Last week we created kuhi (poem stones)! Today, we’ll make a season word dictionary from the easy form I’ve created.
Continue readingHow to write a “Where I’m from” Poem (with template)

The poem, Where I’m From by George Ella Lyons is powerful! It is a literary snapshot of the poet’s most memorable images of her childhood. Through her text, she takes the reader on a journey to show them who she was as a child and who she is today. Educators, activists, psychologists, and others have used Ms. Lyons’ poem as a writing exercise for all ages. Let’s have some fun with it!
Continue readingHow to Write a Digital Blackout Poem (with images)

In blackout poetry, the poet blacks out or covers up unwanted words, leaving carefully chosen words to “pop” on the page. There are two ways to create blackout poetry. You can do it the old school way with a newspaper article and a marker which is great fun, but here, I’m going to focus on how to write a blackout poem digital style!
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