Gratitude+to+All+Life

=**Title: Gratitude to All Life**=

Status: MODERATED

Objective:

 * To show appreciation of nature and life forms through art work and poetry (Haiku)

This is a multi-day (usually 2-day) lesson.

Materials:

 * __Haiku Hike __ by 4th grade students at St. Mary’s Catholic school in Mansfield, MA
 * __Grass Sandals—The Travels of Basho __by Dawnine Spivak
 * [|How to write Haiku : Video on writing haiku (optional)]
 * [|I Haiku You] : Video for the book (optional; as introduction)
 * Print out of How to Write a Haiku: []
 * Pencils
 * Watercolor paper
 * Construction paper for framing
 * Watercolor paints
 * Paint brushes
 * Containers to hold water and brushes
 * Water
 * Notebook paper
 * <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Newspaper and paper towels
 * <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Magnifying glasses (optional)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Fine-tip permanent marker

Preparation:

 * {Tasks that must be done before lesson}

Method:

 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">1st Day
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Read the story, __Haiku Hike.__
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Take the students on a hike in your church (or local) garden. Tell them they will be walking slowly and carefully looking at the plants, flowers and insects in the garden.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">We appreciate all life, but never get a chance to look at things up close and draw or paint things. Share what they saw and discuss what they might draw and write about.
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Sketching—When you return to the classroom, have the students sketch __very lightly__ what they saw. After they sketch their drawings, they can paint using watercolor paints.
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Painting—Go over instructions for use of watercolor paints (ie. How to make paint by dipping the brush in water, then rubbing the color to make the paint. Remember to rinse the brush when they want to change the color. No mixing of colors. They can do a blue wash for the sky—very little paint mixed water. Allow to dry before writing.
 * 7) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Discuss gratitude to all life.
 * 8) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">2nd Day
 * 9) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Poetry—Brainstorm and write on notebook paper to express their thoughts in written form.
 * 10) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">If your students are young, it may be a better to have them write a simple sentence about their painting. (ie. I am grateful for ___. Using descriptive words .)__
 * 11) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Haiku –Refer to the handout, __How to Write a Haiku.__ This describes the guidelines for writing haiku__.__ You may also use __Grass Sandals__ for Haiku examples or the videos listed above
 * 12) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">Write their poem lightly and neatly somewhere on their painting.
 * 13) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">Use a fine tip marker to trace their poem and write their name.
 * 14) <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px;">Review the meaning of Gratitude.

Evaluation:

 * Ask the students how they feel about their work during the review. What did they learn?

Note:
n/a

Author:
Marion Nishimura, mieko4nish.at.gmail.com, Orange County Buddhist Church, 2014 ||