The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Shovan, L. (2016). The last fifth grade of Emerson Elementary. New York: Penguin Random House LLC. ISBN:978-0-553-52138-2

SUMMARY: A story told in verse from multiple perspectives of the graduating fifth grade class of Emerson Elementary. The kids join together to try to save their school from being torn down to make way for a supermarket.

ANALYSIS:  In an ethnically diverse class featuring familiar rivalries and crushes, each student has an opportunity to be his or herself in journal entries destined for a time capsule, which are seen only by their teacher, Ms. Hill. In page-long entries, Shovan skillfully employ different poetic forms and styles—haikus, rhymes, acrostics, free verse, limericks, and more (all discussed in an endnote) to express the students’ personalities, though 18 distinct voices are a lot to track. Characters like Norah from Jerusalem; George, whose father recently left home; Shoshanna, dealing with a demanding friend (“When Hannah wins/ class president/ I’ll finally be free. If she is boss/ of our whole grade/ she won’t be bossing me”); and Brianna, whose mother struggles to make ends meet, will inspire readers as they find the courage to save their school and make their voices heard, both as a united front and as capable, valuable individuals.

USE: One entry by George Furst he states “If I save our school, maybe my dad will get it: Some things are worth holding on to” p.4. The student writes about how his parents divorced and lived in two separate homes. He felt like saving the school would show his dad the meaning of holding on to something you care about. I could begin a lesson with a discussion question such as If there has ever been something that was important to the students and they wish they could hang on to? I would give a mini lesson on verse or have them share a journal entry on their inner thoughts. I could tie their answers and response to this poem and how the boy was motivated to save the school to prove a point to his father. Then, take their entries and find the meaning or why they wanted to hold on to that specific thing. SN: Since their are more than one style of writing of poetic forms, I would choose a poem a day to teach each one from the book

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