The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary Review

The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary

by Laura Shovan

Bibliography

Shovan, L. (2016). The last fifth grade of Emerson Elementary. Wendy Lamb Books.

ISBN 9780553521375

Summary

Through a series of poems written by the 18 different students of Emerson Elementary's fifth grade, we learn about the school's impending closure and its effect on the students and community. The students' poems are only read by their teacher, Ms. Hill. With such privacy, the students reveal vulnerable feelings about divorce, difficult friendships, budding crushes, and homelessness. Divided into the 4 grading quarters of a school year, each section has approximately 45 poems. By the end of the year, the students learn more about each other, learn to help one another, learn more about their teacher, and learn to stand up for themselves. The author Laura Shovan includes extensive back matter which describes the different poems used in the story, including: acrostics, limericks, sonnets, Haiku, and many other forms mixed with free verse and free rhymes. She also suggests ways to incorporate these poems into student writing. Shovan cleverly includes "Ms. Hill's" poetry prompts for when students are stuck.

Analysis

This is a lovely story of students learning that there is a world wider than themselves and figuring out how they are going to fit into it. The students navigate relationships and navigate local government, and Shovan shows this student growth through simple poems that deftly reflect each character's personality, vulnerabilities, and strengths. When students write epistolary (letters) poems to their teacher, Ms. Hill, it reveals an intimacy that shows the strong bond that the teacher has with her students, "I like being able to write private stuff/ and know that you are listening" (80). The second poem, History, is written by George Furst. It is a narrative poem describing his life at that moment, including his dad separating from his mom. It is wordy, factual, and detailed. It is a serious poem, where he seriously reflects, "Why do people want to demolish Emerson Elementary?/ School is the only place/ I can count on to change" (4). George is a contemplative, serious student, maybe a little shy. In the fourth quarter of the year, George writes a found poem titled My Speech that he gives to the school board in defense of keeping his elementary school open. This found poem is more streamlined than his poem at the beginning of the year. It shows that George has grown more focused, has internalized what is most important, and has found the strength to ask for what he wants, "We plan/ to sit in this room/ until you hear/ all/ of our voices" (190). Giving "all" its own line shows the emphasis that he, as class president, represents all the students and takes that seriously. His voice and all his classmates' voices count.

There is a lot of movement, rhythm, and figurative language in some of the other poems. Edgar Lee Jones declares himself "already a poet" (3). He apologizes to his writing notebook because "waiting in [his] backpack/ Smells murky as old turkey" (3). Ben Kidwell, the boy who always yearns to be outside and moving uses a lot of figurative language and onomatopoeia. In Percussion Poem his "pencil goes scritch a scratch" and "tick a tack." His feet "boom" and "badoom" (10). He wants to be "outside outside" like the wind that moves like the rhythm of his words (10). Many of the students who use the most imagery, rhythm, and rhymes end up, unsurprisingly, being in a band together later in the book.

Highlighted Poem

My favorite poem is a form that I'd never heard of before: a Fibonacci poem. According to Shavon's backmatter, it is a form invented by author Gregory K. Pinkus. We use the Fibonacci sequence (where the next number is found by adding up the two numbers before it) for each line of a poem. It should look like this (233):

Empty line: 0 syllables

Line 1: 1 syllable

Line 2: 0 + 1 = 1 syllable

Line 3: 1 + 1 = 2 syllables

Line 4: 1 + 2 = 3 syllables

Line 5: 2 + 3 = 5 syllables

It can go on like this for as long as you'd like. The Fibonacci numbers occur in nature. They make a spiral, like the one formed in a nautilus shell (233). It is sometimes called the "golden spiral." Shovan recommends using it to write about nature.

Two Fibonacci Poems

by Newt Mathews

1.

I

don't

want to

revise this

poem. I like it.

These are the words my brain thought of

when our class learned about the Fibonacci sequence

2.

I

like

my school,

Emerson

Elementary.

If bulldozers demolish it,

how will everyone at my new school know who I am?

This poem is found on p. 61. It reflects Newt Mathews' personality. He presents as neurotypical. He likes to collect and study frogs. Most of his poems follow a logical and rigid structure, which is clear that Newt enjoys. Through the story, Newt finds other friends who enjoy nature and join him in newt and frog studying. I love learning a new form, and I am particularly pleased that even typed out on this blog, you can see the spiral the lines form.

Use

We will read the book Flora and the Penguin by Molly Idle. It is a wordless picture book. The students will "read" it by narrating what they see in the pictures and describe the feelings they evoke. We will write these words on the board. The students will use these words to write their own Fibonacci poem.