DOGKU will flavor discussions about poetry, vocabulary, and inference. In the author's note, Andrew Clements writes, "Adorable dog + haiku = Dogku. Simple." Lots of fun, yes. Simple, not exactly. Written as 16 haiku poems, which is 48 lines of text, only 20 lines – less than half -- are complete sentences. Consequently, the reader must mobilize background knowledge, sentence skills, and inference to understand this text. Luckily, all this linguistic work happens within an adorable story. The family in DOGKU adopt a stray dog. After it begs for food at the table, chews up dirty laundry, and scatters the contents of the kitchen trash can, this family realizes that a dog demands particular care. And with that, this good dog and compassionate family begin a new relationship.
Teacher Tinsin's Tips has Haiku Poems. Jessica Hargedine has Haiku Writing. Angela Osgood has a Guess Who? Haiku booklet.