Tag: Laura Shovan

Begin with a Seed

Welcome to Poetry Friday! What is Poetry Friday?

This week we are hosted by Carol Here at Beyond Literacy. Like me, Carol has been occupied this week writing a daily poem on Facebook along with author Laura Shovan‘s 13th Annual February Poetry Project. Thank you, Laura for this opportunity!

It’s been fun and the daily prompts have helped me find new ideas that might spark a poem. Plus I get to read the work of other poets.

One prompt asked us to write about small spaces. Hmm.

What came to mind were seeds, which are of course very small spaces filled with blue print of a new plant. Also I thought about how plants seem to adhere to a purpose, they do what they can to have a healthy life.

Plants, unlike us, follow its instruction and have it seems the wisdom to flourish. Unlike us, they don’t get distracted from their mission. They don’t self destruct. They simply grow and become part of a forest.

LAKE TAHOE

REDWOOD SEED 

doesn't have the power to think, 
feel, see, smell or taste
as it navigates life,

(we are so gifted!) 

yet a redwood moves 
faithfullY
towards its sacred destiny,
growing taller and wider,
year after year,
decade after decade, 
it fits in
among neighbors
and if nature grants it,
it lives a long life.

But as redwoods 
tower silently above us 
like cathedrals,

human neighbors
spin round and round
in ever more 
wasteful 

and tragic 
circles.


Janice Scully 2025

Thank you, Carole for hosting Poetry Friday. Have a great weekend!

Democracy and THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY

Welcome this week to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by the talented Buffy Silverman Here. Be sure to stop by for a visit.

This month, I have been thinking about Democracy and what a real life lesson we are all receiving daily, and discovered this wonderful 2016 middle grade novel in verse, THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY, by Laura Shovan. It was waiting on my desk, actually. It seemed so relevant at this moment in history, that I wanted to post about it.

It is possible that the teachers on Poetry Friday have already read this, but maybe not. I hope middle graders are reading it and talking about it.

I was so impressed with the author’s craft: 18 memorable character, yikes! And all different, the use of different poetry forms to reflect character, and the engaging story.

A full discussion of the plot as well as an excellent teacher’s guide can be found here.

The main plot briefly goes like this: The Board of Education of Emerson Elementary wants to close the beloved school and the students are determined to stop it. The themes include Democracy and the right to protest.

Students protest with the following poem, which is a petition to the school board, recalling the words of our Founding Fathers in our Constitution:

PETITION
George Furst, Edgar Lee Jones, and Rennie Rawling

We the People of Ms. Hill's Fifth Grade,
in order too give a more perfect Understanding
of the importance of our student voices
here at Emerson Elementary,
seek to establish a Protest by our Classroom,
which hath Studied the U.S Constitution and Civil Rights,
to Provide our United opinion
regarding the fate of our beloved Emerson Elementary,
and Demand that the Board of Education
promote general Knowledge about its plans,
and share the Blessings of Facts
with ourselves and all Emerson
and Montgomery Middle Students.
Thus we do create and Submit this petition
to halt the razing of Our School
indefinitely.

Signed in Equality on this 6th Day of January.

In the study guide, the first question posed is this:

“Have you ever found yourself in a situation that seemed very unfair and you were unsure what to do about it? How did you handle it?”

This is exactly the question I have been asking lately. What can I do to have any impact given what’s going on in America today? But this book gave me hope that children are learning about the fundamentals of Democracy, and how important their voices are. The book is an opportunity to appreciate our rights as Americans, especially, the freedom of speech.

Thank you, Buffy, for hosting. I hope everyone is safe and anticipating with excitement the vaccine that just might restore our ability to be with friends and family.