Exploring the Great Outdoors - Meridian International Center

Yoshi Kogo, A To Zen
Suggested Activity:
• An interesting form of Japanese poetry is haiku. Explain to the students that to write a verse of
haiku they must count the syllables in each line. The first line must have five syllables, the
second line seven syllables and the third line five syllables. Copy this haiku on the chalkboard
and ask the students to count the syllables to see if this is a true haiku.
Today is windy,
The leaves rustle in the trees,
They sound so pretty.
• Now have the students each get a partner and try writing a haiku verse. Suggest that the subject
matter deal with an activity they can do outside.
Lois Lenski, Davy’s Day
Suggested Activity :
• Have your students make “flick book animation” with this project. This is the simplest form of
animation. Materials needed are a pencil and a long strip of paper about three inches wide. The
paper should be thin enough to see through, but should not be too fragile. Fold the strip in half,
crease it and open it out again. Each student is to think of an action or event they want to
illustrate. They will need to think of this action or event involving a “before” and “after”
position. For example: a child could be kicking a ball. The “before” scene would show the
child about to kick the ball; in the “after” scene the child would have kicked his foot and the ball
would be rolling. They are to draw the “before” scene on the second page of the two-page
“book.” Now they are to fold the first page back over the image. They should be able to make
out something of the picture underneath. For their flick book to be effective, some parts of their
image should remain the same. Once they have drawn their second picture, they should roll it
tightly around a pencil. Now to make their flick book work they simply run their pencil left and
right to reveal their “before” and “after” pictures alternately.
Related Activities
Ted Lewin, I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler
Suggested Activity:
• Explain to your students that when authors and artists make objects talk as if they are people we
call this “personification.” For example, suppose a thumbtack could talk. He might say,
“It is not very exciting to be a thumbtack. Sometimes it’s fun when you get to hang up a
pretty Christmas card. But would you like to be one I just hate all the pressing on my
head. Not only do I get thumb prints all over me, it gives me a headache!”
• Now tell the students they are each to choose a sport and think of all of the objects used in that
sport. Say you choose baseball — you might think of a bat, mitt, base, dugout, etc.
Once they have decided on an object used in a sport, they are to have that object “talk” about
itself. Be sure to share the stories with all of the students.
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