JOYCE SIDMAN

“Writing helps us understand the world; we'd be lost without it.”  

Born and raised in Connecticut

BIOGRAPHY

Currently lives in Wayzata, Minnesota

Enjoys snuggling with her dog and reading

Earned Bachelor’s Degree in German from Wesleyan University

Spent a lot of time as a child in the Poconos area: -deer watching -blueberry picking -tractor riding

Volunteers at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, MN

She has written close to 100 books! (eleven are published)

•  As well as: -Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night (Newbery Medal nominated)

-Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors

-Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems

-Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry

-This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness

-The World According to Dog: Poems and Teen Voices

-Eureka!: Poems about Inventors -Just Us Two: Poems/Animal Dads

-Like the Air: Poems

-When I Was Young and Old

-Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night

WORKS INCLUDE:

WRITERLY

Techniques •  voice  of  poem  told  from  a  historical  

figure  or  an  animal  •  sometimes  in  shape  of  an  animal  •  obvious  rhyme  scheme  •  alliteration  •  easy  to  follow  language  •  image  •  narrative  poem  

Themes •  natural  world  •  outdoor  setting  •  animals  •  Insects  •  appealing  to  those  who  love  being  

outdoors  and  adventure  

EXAMPLE’S OF SIDMAN’S POEMS

Welcome  to  the  Night  To  all  of  you  who  crawl  and  creep,  who  buzz  and  chirp  and  hoot  and  peep,  who  wake  at  dusk  and  throw  off  sleep:  Welcome  to  the  night.  

To  you  who  make  the  forest  sing,  who  dip  and  dodge  on  silent  wing,  who  flutter,  hover,  clasp,  and  cling:  Welcome  to  the  night!  

Come  feel  the  cool  and  shadowed  breeze,  come  smell  your  way  among  the  trees,  come  touch  rough  bark  and  leathered  leaves:  Welcome  to  the  night.  

The  night's  a  sea  of  dappled  dark,    the  night's  a  feast  of  sound  and  spark,  the  night's  a  wild,  enchanted  park.  Welcome  to  the  night!  

Grass  I  grow  in  places  others  can’t,  

where  wind  is  high  and  water  scant.  

I  drink  the  rain,  I  eat  the  sun;  

before  the  prairie  winds  I  run.  

I  see,  I  sprout,  I  grow,  I  creep,  

and  in  the  ice  and  snow,  I  sleep.  

On  steppe  or  veld  or  pampas  dry,  

beneath  the  grand,  enormous  sky,  

I  make  my  humble,  bladed  bed.  

And  where  there’s  level  ground,  I  spread.    

CONTENT CONNECTION: Welcome  to  Night  TEKS  Connection:  §112.12.  Science,  Grade  1,  Beginning  with  School  Year  2010-­‐2011.  (b)    Knowledge  and  skills.  (10)    Organisms  and  environments.  The  student  knows  that  organisms  resemble  their  parents  and  have  structures  and  processes  that  help  them  survive  within  their  environments.  The  student  is  expected  to:  *(A)    investigate  how  the  external  characteristics  of  an  animal  are  related  to  where  it  lives,  how  it  moves,  and  what  it  eats;  

Activity: Complete Graphic Organizer Students could complete the following graphic organizer after the teacher reads the poem to the class. She may ask questions along the way to prompt student’s knowledge about nocturnal animals. Students could complete the following organizer with their table. Nocturnal Non-Nocturnal

Examples of different animals:

Characteristics: