How to teach a poem to kids in less than 2 minutes…

Day 9  of 31 Days of Poems for Kids:  Dragonfly Catcher, by Chiyojo

Take a joyous walk today with your children and 20th century Japanese poet Chiyojo as you celebrate a simple wonder and question of life captured in her haiku...

Dragonfly catcher,
How far have you gone today
In your wanderings?

Read the poem with your children.

Talk about the dragonfly catcher.  Who is the dragonfly catcher? Is it a child?  How old is the child?  Has he/she been at play?  Did he/she take along a friend or two?

Talk about the voice or speaker of the poem.  Who is asking the question?  Is it a mother?  A father?  A grandparent?  A teacher? Is the speaker worried, angry, concerned, curious… or is the question one of complete delight?

Pretend your child is the dragonfly catcher. Let him/her answer, using his/her imagination! Has he climbed mountains, crossed streams, fought dragons and traveled to the other side of the world?  Has he used his little dragonfly catching net?  How many dragonflies did he catch?

Older children may recognize the traditional haiku form – 3 lines of verse with 5, 7 and 5 syllables respectively.

You may wish to talk about haiku form with younger children and have them count the lines and syllables.  Or perhaps you’ll simply enjoy the beautiful moment of the poem, time standing still as a mom/dad/grandparent/teacher asks the age-old question: So what have you been up to today?

It’s amazing how so few words express so much care and love.  Chiyojo has given us this gift today.

Have fun with it, and maybe even pick up some bug catchers for more adventures…

Remember that LITERACY/LEARNING/READING are all about WORDS – Written, Spoken & Felt. 

If you enjoyed this poem, you may also enjoy:

Fog, by Carl Sandburg

from Five Haiku, by Paul Eluard

Love is, by Nikki Giovanni

Temple Bell, by Yosa Buson

The Snail, by Richard Wright

Evening, by Sappho

The Red Wheelbarrow, by William Carlos William

The White Horse, by D. H. Lawrence