Traditional 5-7-5 Japanese haiku are composed with an awareness of syllables. To put it plainly, the three line 5-7-5 haiku is:
First line: 5 syllables
Second line: 7 syllables
Third line: 5 syllables
The best descriptions of haiku I’ve found are on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku. Here you will find a discussion of the elements of traditional haiku, including the emphasis on themes of nature and the “cutting word,” intended to cut or change the image at the end of a line. There are also classic haiku examples.
For your haikus in this class, we are concentrating on the form–5, 7, 5.
For further reference: here is one source on haiku from the American Academy of Poets.
Another source on haiku (or hokku) comes from the Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/haiku-or-hokku
