Where the Sidewalk Ends- (1) Poetry Anthology

Where the Sidewalk Ends

By: Shel Silverstein

Genre: Poetry

Award: N/A

Grade Level: I would consider this book to be appropriate for students in third grade or higher for numerous reasons. First, the advanced humor in the different poems may be beyond comprehension for younger children. Second, the use of language is not conventional and would confuse students who do not understand or are unfamiliar with poetic verses, poetic language, or poetic creativeness when considering word choice. For example, the poem “Sick” on page 59 uses words such as ‘pendix’ (appendix) and on page 95 the poem “Love” uses ‘prob’ly’ (probably) these words among others would trip up students who do not possess great reader fluency and have them struggling over the text.

Summary: Where the Sidewalk Ends is a poetry book consisting of varying types of poems and illustrations. Some poems range from four pages such as “The Long-Haired Boy” and “Peanut-Butter Sandwich” where as others are only a sentence or two like “Lazy Jane” and “A Poem on the Neck of a Running Giraffe.” Some poems rhyme, some do not, and some do not have any conventional poem format at all. The illustrations of the book are whimsical black and white sketches with bold dark lines.

Classroom Strategies: One great strategy to test students listening and comprehension skills is to ask them to sketch the image that a Shel Silverstein poem describes. For example, take his poem “Enter This Deserted House” on page 56, and read it to a third grade class (without showing the students the illustration). Next instruct them to draw the image Shel Silverstein’s poem describes and allow them to share the pictures with the class. Finally, show the students the illustration from the book to allow them to compare their own picture to the one the author chose.

Another great classroom strategy that can be used with Where the Sidewalk Ends is utilizing the poem “The Googies are Coming” with a math lesson. Read the poem and make a list on the board for the students to see how much each child costs, for example the poem states that ‘noisy ones’ are a penny, ‘clean ones’ are thirty cents, and ‘meek ones’ are one dollar etc. After reading the poem ask the students a series of word problems based on the poem. Some questions might include:  Is it more to buy a noisy one and a husky one, or a happy one and a lean one? (noisy and husky), or If you buy a clean one and noisy one, and pay with $.50, how much change will you get back? (19 cents). Questions can be on a worksheet or asked aloud in a classroom discussion. Through using poem and literature throughout the school day in expanding it through different subjects, students can appreciate literature on many different levels.

ESOL: Through the two classroom activities many ESOL strategies were utilized such as illustrations, problem solving, and summarizations.  

Read Aloud: I would read three different poems aloud to a third grade class (on different days). First, I would read “Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too” as an attention getter into the unit of poetry. This is a playful and humorous poem that most students enjoy, and could show the students that poetry can be fun and not intimidating with specific rules and formats. Second, I would read “Smart” which is about a boy who trades one dollar for two quarters because two is more than one, and so one. This poem is also humorous and relatable to students and could also tie into a math unit. Finally, I would chose to read “Sick” to the students which is about a child how lists all the aliments of herself to avoid school yet when she finds out it’s Saturday she feels better. This is also a humorous relatable poem for students.

Personal Opinion: As with most of Shel Silverstein’s books, I thoroughly enjoyed Where the Sidewalk Ends. It is a great non-intimidating poetry book that plays with verse and format and allows the reader to laugh and enjoy the poems.