For teachers · explanatory slides
Renga links
Project this deck before handing out the worksheet. Difficulty band: Stretch. Then try the form in the builder, or pick a follow-up move from the technique repertoire.
Renga links · slide 1 of 5 · what
What is a renga links?
A renga is a chain poem written by more than one poet. The opening stanza has three lines (about 5–7–5 syllables); each answering stanza has two lines of about seven. Each stanza answers only the one directly before it — then the chain moves on.
Say: Read this slide, then ask: who has seen one before? Take two answers only.
Arrow keys work too. Printing lays out every slide, one per page.
Renga links · what
What is a renga links?
A renga is a chain poem written by more than one poet. The opening stanza has three lines (about 5–7–5 syllables); each answering stanza has two lines of about seven. Each stanza answers only the one directly before it — then the chain moves on.
Say: Read this slide, then ask: who has seen one before? Take two answers only.
Renga links · how
How it works
1. Write or receive an opening three-line stanza about the weather right now.
2. Answer your partner's stanza, not their subject: pick up one image or sound from it and turn it somewhere new.
3. Read the whole chain aloud. It should wander — season, place and mood shift — and still hold together.
Say: Walk the steps slowly. Students will follow them on their worksheet.
Renga links · example
Worked example — opening and first answer (original)
Opening (3 lines): rain on the hot roof — / the tank ticks, the garden steams, / frogs start up again.
Answer (2 lines): somewhere a gate swings, creaking, / letting the wet dark wander in.
The answer takes only the sound-world (ticking, frogs, wet dark) and moves it to a gate. It does not describe the rain again.
Say: Read the example aloud twice. Ask what the writer chose — and what they left out.
Renga links · traps
Common traps
• Answering the first stanza forever instead of the one directly before you.
• Repeating your partner's subject instead of turning one of its images.
• Trying to force a story or a moral onto a chain that is meant to wander.
Say: Name the traps now so students can laugh when they spot one in their own draft.
Renga links · try
Before you start
Write the opening stanza as a whole class on the board, then pair up: each pair writes only the next answer.
Scaffolding: A 5–7–5 opening, then two-line answers; each stanza answers only the one before it.
Say: Do the first move together, out loud, before handing out worksheets.