The Teachers' Animation Toolkit

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Handout: Storyboard Sequencing: 
Handout: A Decent Excuse Storyboard:
Video clip: A Decent Excuse by Julian Frank
: 

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The Teachers’ Animation Toolkit
WORKSHEET: STORYBOARDING AN ANIMATED HAIKU
Teachers’ note:
Haiku is a short form of poetry that developed in Japan from about 
400 years ago. The style reached a peak in the fi rst half of the 
Edo period (1600–1868), when a poet named Masuo Basho wrote 
distinctive verses on his journeys around the country describing the 
seasons and the scenery of the places he visited.
A Haiku is a short verse of 17 syllables and it is made up of 3 lines. 
The fi rst line usually has 5 syllables, the second has 7 and the third, 
last line has 5 syllables again.
Haiku use simple expressions in ways that allow deeply felt 
emotions and a sense of discovery. Traditionally, a Haiku must have 
a word that is identifi ed with a particular season.
The popularity of Haiku has spread beyond Japan to Europe, North 
America, United States, Africa and China. The following are English 
translations of Haiku by Matsuo Basho.
The Haiku lends itself ideally to animation, because of its brevity, 
and use of powerful word images. When students plan storyboards 
to complement their written Haiku, remind them that the visuals 
need not necessarily depict exactly what the words describe. It 
can be more challenging to consider how else to extend the word 
picture, using detail, mood, gesture, etc.
A cat sleeps 
in the afternoon sun 
while the fl owers grow
The autumn wind is blowing 
but the chestnut burs 
are green
Someone is living there 
smoke leaks through the wall 
in the spring rain