MANCHESTER COLLEGE Department of Education

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Sylvia Pope
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1 Ahnert 1 MANCHESTER COLLEGE Department of Education LESSON PLAN by: Laura Ahnert Lesson: #5 Tankas Length: 47 minutes Age or Grade Intended: 10 th Grade English Academic Standard(s): Evaluate the aesthetic qualities of style, including the impact of diction and figurative language on tone, mood, and theme Write for different purposes and audiences, adjusting tone, style, and voice as appropriate. Performance Objectives: Using their quickwrite about relationships, the students will write a tanka of their own for 15 points. Given a worksheet, the students will evaluate the tone, mood, and theme of the tankas on page 570 of their literature book, missing no more than four out of twenty-four points. Assessment: At the beginning of class, I will present the students with a scenario, which they will be required to quickwrite about. They will use this quick write as the inspiration for their tanka poem. Tankas are said to have been given along with a symbolic item such as a bouquet of flowers for a lover. I will also have the students describe an item they would send with their tankas. I will have them explain why they would send that particular item. The breakdown of points for this is 8 points for the tanka poem, 2 points for the symbolic item, 3 points for the explanation of the symbolic item, and 2 points for the quickwrite, for a total of 15 points. After reading the tanka poems, I will provide the students with a worksheet that asks questions about the poem. They are worth 4 points apiece, and will test the students comprehension of the poems. I will collect both of these things at the end of the period. If they are not done with them by that time, they will be assigned as homework to be turned in the next class period. Advanced Preparation by Teacher: Make worksheet that explains the form of tankas. Make enough copies of explanation worksheet. Make question worksheet to test comprehension of the tankas. Make enough copies of question worksheet. Lesson Plan: Have the following written on the board for when they students enter the room: o A <3s B > B <3s A o B used to <3 A, but was afraid o of rejection, so B has decided o to snub A.

2 Ahnert 2 Read what is written on the board to the students. Then, ask Does this sound familiar to anyone? Maybe something you or a friend of yours has gone through, or possibly just gossip floating around the cafeteria? We have read several poems now. What have they all had in common? (The answer I am looking for is along the lines of they write about things that move them or directly affect them in an emotional way ) In the same way, a tanka is meant to evoke a strong feeling in the writer and reader. Read Poetry in the Golden Age of Japan, page 569 in the literature book, to the students. Have the students quickwrite about love and relationships, keeping the scenario written on the board in mind while they write. Give them about 5 minutes. After the students have finished their quickwrite, have them turn to page 570 in their literature books. Hand out the worksheet explaining tankas. Explain the form of tankas using the sheet. A tanka is a Japanese poetic form, dating to the 7 th century, and is written according to strict rules. Tankas always have 5 unrhymed lines and a total of exactly 31 syllables. Lines 1 and 3 have five syllables each. Lines 2, 4, and 5 have seven each. A tanka evokes a strong feeling with a single image. They normally were about nature. Tankas were usually sent along with a symbolic item such as a bouquet of flowers or colorful autumn leaves. After explaining this, have a student read out loud for each tanka, discussing each after it is read. What do the students think each tanka is about? Tell the students that each of them are going to write their own tanka now. Use the sheet explaining the rules of tankas, model the tankas in the book, and use the quickwrite about relationships as the subject matter of the tanka. Have them write about a symbolic item that they would send their tanka with, and why they would send that item. Give them about 15 minutes to do this. When the students are finished, have some volunteers read their tankas out loud to the class. After this, pick up the tanka poem + symbolic item and explanation and their quickwrite. Pass out the questions worksheet. If there is not enough time to finish this in class, have the students complete it as homework that is to be picked up the next class period. Adaptations/Enrichment: 1. If possible, I would separate the different levels of learners into different groups. I would give each group a different set of questions based upon their level of learning and the levels of Bloom s. After they had answered the questions, I would have each group present their findings. In this way, everyone would get the information, and I will make sure it is explained in such a way that everyone can understand. 2. I could also have them research whatever style of poetry that we are covering that day more in depth. They could research where they came from, what other types of symbolic items were sent with them, who typically wrote them, for what purpose they were written, etc. 3. These students could come up with test questions about the poems. These questions could be about content, theme, mood, the setup, purpose, time period, author, etc. 4. This lesson: For the high ability learners, I could have them write three tankas like in their literature book, but have them connect. They could do a progression through a relationship, having the first tanka with the theme of puppy love or something like that, the second tanka with the theme of the relationship, and the third tanka about either their breakup or their eventual ride into the sunset. They could be very creative with this.

3 Ahnert 3 Tankas A tanka is a classic form of Japanese poetry. A tanka has five lines with a traditional pattern of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 syllables. It has a total of exactly 31 syllables. In addition to being a popular form of love poem for centuries, the tanka form has also been the vehicle for expressing interconnectedness with nature. Here is a personal tanka that tries to combine the traditional tanka love and nature themes: 5 sequoias in bloom 7 yellow flowers high above 5 walking hand in hand 7 one branch fallen on our path 7 together now, we look up

4 Ahnert 4 Name: Three Japanese Tankas Worksheet Complete this worksheet using the tanka poems on page 570 of your literature book. 1. What single image does the first tanka focus on? What is its theme? 2. Explain what the drifting ship in tanka number two might refer to? 3. Tankas were sometimes sent with a bouquet of flowers or colorful autumn leaves, what is your opinion of the last tanka being sent with a rice stalk with an empty seed husk? 4. How are the tankas related to each other? 5. How would you apply what you have learned today about tanka poems to develop a theory about life in Japan at the time? 6. Choose one of the tankas. Write it below. Pick out and discuss the mood and tone. How would you describe them?

5 Ahnert 5 Sources: Komachi, O. (2008). Three japanese tankas. In Elements of Literature (pp ). Austin, Texas: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Tankas. (n.d.). Retrieved from

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