Monarch Nominee: If It Rains Pancakes Haikus and Lantern Poems

This Monarch nominee was a lot of fun!  I was familiar with haikus, as were some students, but lantern poems were new to all of us.  Both styles of poetry are originally Japanese in origin.  We learned that the haiku is traditionally about something in nature but this funny book has haikus about everything!  The first line of a haiku has five syllables, the second has seven, and the third has five.  The lantern poems starts with a one syllable noun and then the rest of the poem describes that one syllable noun.  The noun is then casting it's light over the rest of the poem like a lantern.  Students tried their hand at writing their own haiku and lantern poems.  Take a look at some of the lantern poems Ms. Arroyo's class came up with.