It’s the last week of school. We have five days left with students, most of which will be filled with my students’ poetry presentations. I’ve come across several novels recently that deal with last things. This week will be all about books with the word ‘last’ in the title.
Today’s book is The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan.
Publisher’s Summary:Laura Shovan’s engaging, big-hearted debut is a time capsule of one class’s poems during a transformative school year. Families change and new friendships form as these terrific kids grow up and move on in this whimsical novel-in-verse about finding your voice and making sure others hear it.
Eighteen kids,
one year of poems,
one school set to close.
Two yellow bulldozers
crouched outside,
ready to eat the building
in one greedy gulp.But look out, bulldozers.
Ms. Hill’s fifth-grade class
has plans for you.
They’re going to speak up
and work together
to save their school.
The poetry reflects the cultural and economic diversity of the class. Not all the poems in this collection are fantastic, but they do ring true to fifth grade voices. The book also include a glossary explaining the variety of poetical forms, providing a way to share different kinds of poems with students.
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