Introduction
To celebrate National Poetry Month in April, we will be looking into poet and children's book author Betsy Snyder. Betsy has not always been a children's book author and we will learn more about her other endeavors as we go. You will be using different website links to complete this activity along with creating your own Haiku poem.
Task
Answer these questions about Betsy Snyder:
1. Where does Betsy Snyder live?
2. What else does she do besides write books?
3. What was the title of her first book as an author and when was it published?
4. Name 2 awards or honors that have been received by Betsy
Answer these questions about Haikus:
1. Where did the Haiku poem style writing originate?
2. What are the 3 rules for Haiku poems?
3. Using a page from the Haiku Baby read aloud link write down a Haiku verse from the book.
4. Create your own Haiku poem and draw an illustration to go with your poem.
Process
Follow the links listed in the credits field complete the activity. Once you have completed the questions, break up into groups of 2 or 3 people and work together to create a Haiku poem that follows the 3 rules you learned about in the activity. Make sure to draw an illustration that goes with what your poem is about.
Evaluation
Questions on Betsy Snyder:
1. 1 point for answer
2. 2 points for each answer besides author
3. 2 points; 1 for title of book, 1 for year
4. 2 points; 1 for each award/honor
Questions on Haiku:
1. 1 point for answer
2. 3 points, 1 for each correct rule
3. 4 points for Haiku from book
4. 10 points, 5 for Haiku Poem, 5 for illustration
Total possible points: 25 points
Conclusion
Now that you have learned about who Betsy Snyder is and her style of book writing, would you ever want to write a book? What about writing poetry? What about a book with different styles of poetry? You never know where life will take you and stepping out of your comfort zone is worth the risk. Look at Betsy Snyder, now she is an author and illustrator and you can be too!
Credits
You will use the links below to complete the questions and activity.
https://poetryteatime.com/blog/poet-interview-with-betsy-snyder
https://www.painted-words.com/portfolio/betsy-snyder-3/
http://betsysnyder.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
https://www.adweek.com/galleycat/betsy-snyder-give-yourself-a-poetry-challenge/69764
https://www.knowitall.org/photo/what-haiku-what-are-rules