Poetry in Motion ~ Earth Is Haiku

For Earth Day, my class embarked on an ancient Zen tradition of haiku writing.  We were taking part in the 2011 Kids Count For Earth Day Haiku Contest.  If you recall, I made this the GTG headlines on April 13th. (http://greenteamgazette.blogspot.com/2011/04/earth-day-haiku-4-u.html)

According to WiseGeek.com: "Haiku is a very important form of traditional Japanese poetry.... It is based on a Zen Buddhist philosophy of brevity and simplicity and is believed to have originated in the 17th century. Haikus are designed to convey the essence of an experience in a short format. Traditional haikus frequently mention natural themes or images and are often yearning or wistful in tone" ~ From http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-haiku.htm

So my 3rd graders wrote Earth Day Haikus.  Easier said than done given the outward simplicity of the 5-7-5 structure!!  Here are some of their pretty amazing contest entries from my class (which closed on Earth Day).  Some pretty wise, young "sensei"s and poetry masters.

The Chesapeake Bay
Rushing water and oysters
Meet you at the Bay.
~ JB

Sun brightly shining,
No pollution is in sight,
The Earth is as peace.
~TD

Flowers beautiful
Blue, pink, and yellow—pretty.
Earth Day is special.
~ EA

Environments are
Getting destroyed every day.
Stop destroying Earth.
~ LB

Earth is planting trees.
Reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Help environment.
~ ST

Save the Earth every way.
Plant many flowers and trees.
Take care of nature!
~ MK

The environment
Is cool, and Chesapeake Bay
Is perfect for us.
~ KY

Environment. Good.
Smell the pretty flowers.
Rivers, very wet.
~ PK

I will plant trees here.
Terrapins are cool. The Bay
Is awesome and home.
~ DD

Water is nature.
Environment is haiku.
And haiku is Earth.
~ MB

Images from http://www.planetpals.com/earthdayhaikucontest.html and http://www.makeliterature.com