Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman

The classic feel of this book would pair well with the classic picture book Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (1941).

Consider what it would be like to be a tiny duckling, a few days old, jumping from a nest that could be 2 stories above the ground! Ask students to share about a time they have done something very scary.

Encourage movements to represent the verbs.

Have students echo read the second of each pair of repeated words, following the leader like the ducklings do.

The puppet can be used to “act out” each of the duckling actions.

This poem would be fun to share using a duckling puppet in a nest.

She throws in a dash of shaped poetry to capture the logic-defying leaps wood ducklings make and the way they instinctively follow, follow. In this poem, Sidman chooses pairs of words that have both interesting sound and vivid imagery. Sidman stimulates curiosity with this poetry collection celebrating pond life. The opening double page spread, for example, reveals a pond scene in spring while the closing spread shows the same scene, blanketed in snow for the winter. The spring-to-winter organization is emphasized by the Caldecott honor-receiving hand-colored woodcut artwork. And a glossary of the science terms introduced is included. “Plants become food for plant-eating (herbivorous) animals like the tiny water flea or the water boatman.”). For instance, readers learn the dragonfly is able to “zoom up to thirty-five miles per hour.” These expository texts tuck in more advanced vocabulary naturally (ex. These interesting poems are coupled with expository paragraphs that share additional fun facts and features of the subjects, appealing to middle and upper elementary aged children. “Aquatic Fashion” speaking of the Caddis fly larvae who “dress themselves” in debris as camouflage is one example of this playful use of language to describe natural phenomena. This is seen, for example, in the Backswimmer’s Refrain in the poem about the Water Boatman: “Yo, ho ho / the pond winds blow / and upside down is the way to go.” Others play with language to describe the habits of their subjects. Shaped poetry makes an appearance in “Spring Splashdown” as wood ducklings leap down from their nest and is also seen in the collection’s final poem presented in a form mimicking a turtle, the poem’s subject. The pond food chain is covered using a cumulative tale approach with each stanza repeating introduced lines and adding a new line for the next level of the food chain. Poetic forms are as varied as their subjects. Poem subjects include microscopic life, plants, insects, fish, birds, and amphibians common to pond environments. A sampling of pond flora and fauna from small to tall is presented. Sidman turns a poetic spotlight on a pond ecosystem throughout the seasons with this collection of 11 poems.

Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems.

Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman