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The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary

Page 1

by Laura Shovan




  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2016 by Laura Shovan

  Cover and interior art copyright © 2016 by Abigail Halpin

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  Wendy Lamb Books and the colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Title: The last fifth grade of Emerson Elementary / Laura Shovan.

  Description: First edition. | New York : Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, [2016].

  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” — Provided by publisher.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2015026501 | ISBN 978-0-553-52137-5 (hardback) | ISBN 978-0-553-52138-2 (lib. bdg.) | ISBN 978-0-553-52139-9 (ebook)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Novels in verse. | Schools—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Stories in Verse. | JUVENILE FICTION / School & Education.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.5.S49 Las 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  Cover design by Kate Gartner

  Interior design by Trish Parcell

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v4.1

  a

  For all of my students,

  who have been my best teachers,

  but especially Robbie and Julia.

  “And they were all, when their

  souls grew warm, poets.”

  —RAY BRADBURY

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  First Quarter

  Notebook

  History

  First Day

  The Last Fifth Grade

  Running For President

  School Clothes

  Questions

  Then And Now

  Percussion Poem

  Ping-Pong Riff

  Every Morning

  My Teacher

  I Know This One

  Self-Portrait

  My Name

  Two Haiku

  Top Ten Things That Stink When Your Father Dies

  At The Movies

  “El Palomito”

  “El Palomito” Translation

  Changes

  Writing Time

  Lucky Hat

  My Twin

  Picture Day by Sydney Costley

  Picture Day by Jason Chen

  Posters

  Election Day

  Ode To My Grandpa

  Where They Live

  Green Toenails

  Mr. White Tanka Poem

  Obstacle Course

  Español

  My Song

  Campaign Manager

  Election Day

  My Way

  Field Trip

  News At The Newseum

  Getting The Message

  Speaking My Mind

  SOS

  Hijab

  Is It True?

  I Hate Halloween

  Costume: A Rap Poem For Ms. Hill

  Second Quarter

  One Seat, Two Seats, We Have New Seats

  A Limerick

  Two Fibonacci Poems

  Opposite Poem

  A History Question

  Indoor Recess

  Window

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Who Do You Like?

  Special Person’s Day

  My Name Is The Rock

  Talent Show

  El Dueto

  Duet

  Left Out

  Thanksgiving

  How To Make A Mr. Stick Guy Flip Book

  Time Capsule Rap

  Anything

  Rennie And Phoenix

  Different Doors

  Macmess: An Experiment In Pollution

  Things That Annoy Me

  Nickname Rap

  Try Hard

  Crack The Whip

  The Poetry Prompt Jar

  Me Too

  Senryu: Shoshanna Says

  Snow Day

  Winter Tanka Poem

  Jerusalem

  Photograph

  Petition

  Career Day Fibonacci Poems

  Big Yellow Dozer

  Rumors

  Hungry Yellow Bulldozers

  Signature

  Free Speech?

  Report: Nutrition Walk

  Food Desert

  What’s For Dinner?

  In My Food Desert

  After Our Class Debate

  I Don’t Want To

  Third Quarter

  When Your School Has Old Windows

  I Wanted To Stay Home From School Today

  Birthday Party

  Character

  Faces

  Target

  Gracias

  Thank You

  Report Cards

  Tryouts

  Talent

  Ode To My Twin

  Ode To Pajama Day

  Self-Portrait

  Valentine Diamante

  Hugs And Kisses

  Called Down

  In The Principal’s Office

  Bad News

  Japanese Painting

  Tissues

  Remember

  Four Square

  Girl Talk

  Disgusting Discussion

  Ode To Recess

  Show-And-Tell

  Cardinal Watch

  Hunting Frogs With Raj

  Hammy Power!

  Why?

  Rainy Day Poem

  The Field

  Turtle

  Right Now

  No One Knows

  How It Started

  Raj’s Rant

  Lunch

  Insubordinate

  Haciendo El Papel De La Bella

  Playing Belle

  Being The Beast

  Beastly Me

  Stargrams

  Fourth Quarter

  Spring Break Five Senses Poem

  Marvelous Matzo

  You’ve Got A Friend

  Sixth Grade

  Little River

  Holy Angels

  Free Speech

  Student Council

  Ode To My Mom

  The Problem With K–8

  Stand Up, Sit Down

  My Speech

  How Many Hours

  Ode To My Guitar

  Civil Disobedience

  Bored At The Board

  No Show

  What I Missed

  Tigers

  Makeover

  Almost Summer

  Jerusalem

  The Funeral

  Dream School

  Red Dress

  Time Capsule

  One Wall

  To My Teacher

  Moving

  Mr. Stick Guy’s Goodbye

  Something Good

  Painting

  A Tanka Poem For Phoenix

  Nobody Told Me

  Clapping Out, Clapping In

  Haiku
/>   I’m A Creature

  My Voice

  Zoo Creatures

  Unveiling The Mural

  Dedication

  Moving Up Speech

  Self-Portrait

  Goodbye

  Acknowledgments

  A Closer Look at the Poems in this Book

  Glossary

  About the Author

  August 25

  NOTEBOOK

  Edgar Lee Jones

  Yo, Notebook.

  I am your poet.

  I will fill you with words.

  I don’t mind writing

  a poem for our teacher,

  some rhymes

  Ms. Hill will feature

  in our fifth-grade book.

  My whole class

  is writing down

  what happens this year,

  but I won’t frown.

  I’ve got nothing to fear.

  I’m already a poet.

  My verses are off the hook.

  Hey, Notebook,

  hope you don’t mind

  waiting in my backpack.

  I know you’re hating

  the dark in there.

  Smells murky as old turkey.

  Later today I’ll take you out

  in a sunny place, tell you

  what life’s all about

  for a fifth-grade poet.

  Fresh air, blue sky,

  my notebook and I.

  August 26

  HISTORY

  George Furst

  My name is George Washington Furst.

  Don’t laugh. My parents are history teachers.

  They met at George Washington’s house.

  It’s a museum called Mount Vernon.

  Vernon is also the name of our cat,

  who lives with me and my mom.

  My dad doesn’t live with us.

  He moved out and took half the furniture,

  so probably we won’t visit Mount Vernon

  on my birthday like usual

  because nothing’s like usual.

  If Mount Vernon is still standing

  after nearly three hundred years,

  why do people want to demolish

  Emerson Elementary?

  School is the only place

  I can count on to never change.

  Maybe I’ll run for class president.

  If I’m elected, I’ll tell our principal

  that buildings can last hundreds of years.

  Mrs. Stiffler has to listen

  to the class president, right?

  If I save our school,

  maybe my dad will get it:

  Some things are worth holding on to.

  August 27

  FIRST DAY

  Rachel Chieko Stein

  We only have 180 days

  at Emerson Elementary.

  When this school year ends,

  I will have spent

  one thousand days

  in this building.

  I want a thousand more

  so I’ll never have to say

  goodbye to friends

  like Sydney and Katie.

  I wish Emerson

  could be my school forever,

  but everyone is talking

  about a plan

  to tear the building down.

  Even if we write poems

  about this year and save them

  for the school time capsule,

  it’s going to be

  like we were never here.

  I wish fifth grade

  wasn’t such a tornado,

  whirling and spinning,

  everyone scattered

  in different directions,

  our school gone,

  empty space

  left behind.

  August 28

  THE LAST FIFTH GRADE

  Sloane Costley

  Walking into school in my brand-new clothes.

  Last week of August, still got sunburn on my nose.

  Checking out the little kids, I feel so tall.

  Over summer, someone must’ve shrunk this hall.

  Mom let me get lip gloss and some sparkly pens.

  Sydney’s backpack matches mine because we’re twins.

  I picked out exactly what we both should wear.

  Yeah, we look alike, but you don’t have to stare.

  Did you hear the Board of Ed might sell our school?

  Emerson could be a mall or something cool.

  If they knock this place down, we should have a parade,

  ’cause no one else will ever be the last fifth grade.

  August 29

  RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT

  Hannah Wiles

  My dad says if this school closes down,

  we’ll get to go somewhere better.

  My mom’s a major in the army.

  She says the way to make things happen

  is to take charge. So I’m stepping up,

  being a leader. I got Shoshanna

  and Brianna to help with my campaign.

  Vote for me if you want to say goodbye

  to bathroom doors that don’t shut right,

  sweating in classrooms with broken AC,

  grungy windows, grimy desks,

  basketball hoops without any nets.

  I can’t understand why so many people

  want to save this run-down old building.

  We deserve to go to school

  someplace nice. It’s our right!

  Vote for me if you agree.

  September 2

  SCHOOL CLOTHES

  Brianna Holmes

  I am hot-pink loud

  and no one sees

  the holes that I cover

  with embroidery.

  I am sleek black boots

  up past my knee.

  No one knows they’re plastic

  and too big for me.

  If a hem can be sewn,

  you don’t throw out the sweater.

  Why tear down our school

  when rebuilding is better?

  I love hand-me-downs

  and thrift-store jeans,

  and I’m still stylish

  as the fifth-grade queens.

  September 3

  QUESTIONS

  Katie McCain

  Ms. Hill, do we have to start every morning

  listening to folk music while we write poetry?

  Writing is hard enough without “If I Had a Hammer”

  pounding my head. In twenty-five years,

  when some kid opens the time capsule

  from our school, he’s not going to care about me

  or my poems. Why can’t our class

  do a cool project? The fourth grade

  is making a photo album for the time capsule.

  You could even put in that picture you love,

  the one on your desk where you look like a total hippie.

  Writing is worse than washing the dishes.

  It’s worse than taking out the trash.

  Ms. Hill, don’t you ever have a day

  when you don’t have anything

  to say?

  September 4

  THEN AND NOW

  Shoshanna Berg

  When my sister moved up

  from fifth grade,

  I stood right here,

  so little I held my mom’s hand.

  All the Emerson teachers

  waited near the glass hallway

  that connects our school

  to Montgomery Middle.

  On the other side,

  the middle-school teachers

  were ready for their new students.

  My sister lined up with her class.

  I remember her yellow sundress.

  When the fifth graders

  stepped into the bright hallway,

  all the teachers clapped.

  Goodbye, goodbye!

  As they crossed from elementary

  into middle schoo
l,

  the teachers on the other side

 

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