Bonsai! Yelled the boy
I don't like poetry, but
Haiku's different.
-Joey
Joey is a joker! He drew a pot at the base of his painting because
the word "bonsai" isn't just a silly exclamation. It's also a Japanese word that
means "tiny potted tree". Growing special miniature trees that look rugged and
wind-blown is a fine art and serious business in Japan.
ArtHouse provides a focal point for Language Arts projects at all grade levels from
pre-literacy through the middle grades. As shown here, ArtHouse provides a lovely
place to display humourous haiku poems in an interesting, thematically appropriate context.
The students envisioned a Japanese garden in winter, and imagined viewing its
weathered trees from the perspective of the original haiku poet, Matsuo Basho, who
lived in a humble gardener's hut.
Every ArtHouse decoration tells a story - that's why we call them "storyboards".
Sometimes the visual art comes first. Viewing it, kids are inspired to interpret and
tell stories. Or, like storyboards in the film-making and advertising industries,
making storyboards can be a tool for students to test and develop creative ideas
from the brainstorming to the writing stage. A third scenario is demonstrated here:
students wrote haiku poems and created visual artwork to aid presentation.
ArtHouse is a great teaching aid for Language Arts - it makes lessons more memorable.
Visit The Haiku Poetry Page To See The Class Project Assembled
You're invited to submit art to the ArtHouse Children's Art Gallery!
Kids' Art Gallery Submission Instructions
Return To The ArtHouse Children's Art Gallery