DARK EMPEROR & OTHER POEMS OF THE NIGHT by Joyce Sidman

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Sidman, Joyce. 2010. DARK EMPEROR AND OTHER POEMS OF THE NIGHT. ill. Rick Allen. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. ISBN 9780547152288

SUMMARY:

Slide on your night vision glasses to view the magnificent, creepy, and amazing world that exists when the sun goes down.  Like the owl, you can watch the night-spiders build their webs, bats flipping upside down with a full belly, and listen to the crickets sing.  After reading this book, you will never look at nighttime the same again.

QUALITY & APPEAL:

Age Range:  6 years and up
Grade Level:  1st grade and up
Students will learn about the wonderful, mysterious, and sometimes dangerous nocturnal animals of the night. The author's notes on the right side of the pages make a great addition as they add details and scientific concept information that goes hand-in-hand with the focus poem on the left hand side of the page.  In the middle, students will find a wonderfully dark illustration created by Rick Allen.  The illustrations bring the poem to life and create a visual for students to study, experience, and enjoy.

Teachers will want to add this informational book to their classroom library.  It is a great resource filled with poems that will aid in the learning of science concepts.  The illustrations are a great tool for teachers to use with their ELL students.  All students will thrive with the exposure to the rich vocabulary found within the pages.  Share Joyce Sidman's book trailer to engage students in the learning.  The sounds and visuals are amazing!  http://www.joycesidman.com/books/dark-emperor-and-other/book-trailer-dark-emperor.html

SPOTLIGHT POEM:  (Excerpt from page 16)

NIGHT-SPIDER'S ADVICE

Build a frame

and stick to it,

I always say,

Life's a circle.

Just keep going around.

Do your work, then

sit back and see

what falls in your lap.

Eat your triumphs,

seat your mistakes:

that way your belly

will always be full.

Use what you have.

Rest when you need to.

Dawn will come soon enough.

Someone has to remake

the world each night.

It might as well be you.

CONNECTIONS:

• Watch Joyce Sidman's book trailer.  (link above)
• Show students the book cover, and discuss the video they just watched. 
• Discuss what they could learn from reading a book like this.  (Discuss genre: expository/nonfiction/informational text; Discuss author's purpose:  written to inform)
• To engage students in the learning, let them watch Arachnids video found on www.brainpop.com
• http://www.brainpop.com/science/diversityoflife/arachnids/  (Need a subscription to view.)
• Discuss spiders and begin filling out a graphic organizer (KWL chart), filling in the "KNOW" section. After students have had time to think of questions, add those to the "WHAT I WANT TO KNOW" section.
• Slowly share Night-Spiders Advice from page 16 - Rereading the poem several times.
• Discuss the illustrations on both page 16 and 17.
• Then, read the notes on the right hand side of the page to learn more about spiders.
• Read the poem again.
• Discuss and fill in the "LEARNED" section of the graphic organizer.
• Allow students to create a spider diagram with sentence strips stating facts.  Have some sentences that do not fit or are incorrect in relations to spiders.  Students will need to read all sentences and glue only the ones onto their diagram that describe correct information or characteristics about spiders. 

Joyce Sidman's Reader's Guide:

• http://www.joycesidman.com/books/dark-emperor-and-other/dark-emp-rg.pdf