Poet to Know: Joyce Sidman
Joyce Sidman
Joyce Sidman has written many books of poetry for kids. Most of them explore the fascinating, though sometimes unnoticed, science that surrounds us. Through careful observation and research, Sidman captures the details of animal behavior, changes of seasons, and the shapes and colors we see in nature. She also uses many different poetic forms, or types of poems that have specific rules, like a haiku or a sonnet.
Sidman.mp4Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night Video
Listen to poems from Joyce Sidman's Newbery Honor book, Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night.
Joyce Sidman has a wonderful website where you can learn about her books, see her reading her poetry, and get ideas for writing your own poetry.
Don't miss the Blogs section, where she chronicles the moths hatching on her deck and the robins laying eggs on her porch. She even shares MANY pictures of her dog, Watson.
This show from Twin Cities PBS introduces us to Winter Bees, one of Joyce Sidman's beautiful books of poetry. Listen to Joyce talk about how she writes her poetry and watch her write a poem with students. Bonus: meet Rick Allen, the book's illustrator, and see how he makes the prints that went into Winter Bees.
You can read more of Joyce Sidman's poetry here. Scroll down to the bottom for the list of her poems, and click on the ones you want to read.
Activities
In the Winter Bees video, Joyce talks about taking the same walk every day and spotting different things each time. Have you been taking walks near your home? Try observing the same path or place more than once and see what you notice. You could even keep a journal of your observations for poetic inspiration!
When Joyce meets with students, they make a winter word "treasure trove" to use in their poem. Try making your own treasure trove of springtime words.