sijo lesson

[Heidi Kwalk]

Hi Kim, 

I had to really think about how to teach this form of poetry to my students, too. I also used past winners sijo as a mentor text for their poems. After reading about ten winning sijos with my students, this is how I had my students approach it. Instruction: 1) first line is introduction to the scene; vivid image of a place/setting of the poem; 2) Zoom in on the scene as if you are using a magnifying glass to focus on one specific thing; or draw your readers attention to something else in the scene; 3) lastly, do something that the readers are not expecting--like a surprise!  And as in all writing, I told them to write about something they know well or something in their heart right now.  A sijo scholar might frown at the way I taught the form but based on what my students produced, I feel like they got it!