Read Who's Afraid of Fourth Grade? Online
Authors: Nancy Krulik
Who's Afraid of Fourth Grade? (3 page)
“What?”
“An acro-brat!” Kadeem laughed so hard, he almost fell down. “Get it?”
George frowned. “I get it,” he said in a nasty voice. “And I wish I could give it back.” He turned to Katie and Emma. “Now, do you want to hear a
real
joke? Why was the human cannonball fired?”
real
joke? Why was the human cannonball fired?”
“Because he was acting like a big shot!” Kadeem finished George's joke for him. “That's an old one.”
George's face turned really red. His eyes seemed to bulge out of his head.
Katie gulped. George was really mad. Suzanne had been right. Having George and Kadeem in the same class wasn't a good thing at all.
“Come on, George,” Katie said, trying to steer him away from Kadeem. “Come inside with Emma and me.”
“But that was
my
joke,” George moaned. “He stole the punch line.”
my
joke,” George moaned. “He stole the punch line.”
“It's okay,” she whispered to him. “You would have told it much funnier.”
That seemed to make George feel better. He followed Katie and Emma into the school without saying another word.
“Oh, wow!” Mandy Banks exclaimed as she walked into class 4A.
“Check this out!” Emma S. agreed.
“This is the
coolest
room,” Kevin Camilleri declared. He turned to Katie and George. “Nothing like Mrs.
Jerk
man's room, is it?”
coolest
room,” Kevin Camilleri declared. He turned to Katie and George. “Nothing like Mrs.
Jerk
man's room, is it?”
Katie nodded. The room definitely wasn't anything like the neat, orderly room Mrs. Derkman had prepared for them when they'd arrived in third grade. The desks in class 3A had been arranged in even, straight rows. The walls had been almost bare, except for posters that said things like “Check Your Work” and “Learn to Ask Questions.” Mrs. Derkman didn't like anything distracting in the classroom.
She definitely wouldn't have approved of class 4A.
This
classroom was totally wild! The bulletin board had been covered with neon-colored paper birds. Each of the kids' names had been written on a bird. Katie's name was on a yellow bird.
This
classroom was totally wild! The bulletin board had been covered with neon-colored paper birds. Each of the kids' names had been written on a bird. Katie's name was on a yellow bird.
There were posters in the room too. But they didn't seem to have anything to do with school. The posters showed kids surfing, skateboarding, bike riding, skiing, and climbing mountains. A banner that read “Try Something New Today” was tacked up over the blackboard.
The classroom ceiling had been decorated with kites that were hanging from the light fixtures. The words “Fly to New Heights!” were written on some of them.
But the most amazing thing of all was that there were no rows of desks in the room. In fact,
there were no desks at all
. Instead, brightly colored beanbag chairs had been thrown into the middle of the room. The only regular chairs were beside a long table in the back of the room that was covered with mountains of twigs, yarn, glitter, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, and construction paper.
there were no desks at all
. Instead, brightly colored beanbag chairs had been thrown into the middle of the room. The only regular chairs were beside a long table in the back of the room that was covered with mountains of twigs, yarn, glitter, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, and construction paper.
“What's this all about?” Katie whispered to Emma W.
“I've never seen a classroom like it,” Emma whispered back. She fiddled nervously with one of her long, brown braids.
“Hey there, everybody.” A deep man's voice filled the air.
Katie looked toward the blackboard in the front of the room. Or was it the back of the room? It was hard to tell, since there were no desks pointing in any direction.
Well, either way, Katie's new teacher was standing near the board. At least, she
thought
he was her teacher. The man didn't look like any teacher she'd ever seen before! He had long reddish-brown hair that he'd pulled back into a ponytail. He was wearing a pair of brown corduroy slacks, a jeans shirt, and a brown suede jacket.
thought
he was her teacher. The man didn't look like any teacher she'd ever seen before! He had long reddish-brown hair that he'd pulled back into a ponytail. He was wearing a pair of brown corduroy slacks, a jeans shirt, and a brown suede jacket.
“I'm Mr. Guthrie,” he greeted them.
Okay, so he
was
her teacher.
was
her teacher.
“Put your backpacks over there by the coat hooks, then take a seat on one of the beanbags.”
“
Any
beanbag?” Andrew asked, surprised.
Any
beanbag?” Andrew asked, surprised.
“Sure. Pick a color you like,” the teacher replied.
“Aren't you going to assign seats?” Kevin asked.
Mr. Guthrie shook his head. “Now why would I want to do that?”
Katie looked at her teacher's long hair and corduroy pants. She stared up at the kites on the ceiling. Then she studied the beanbags and the mounds of twigs, straw, and yarn in the back of the room. This didn't seem at all like school.
“Man, this year is going to be awesome!” George whispered to her.
But Katie wasn't so sure.
Chapter 5
“Okay, so I'll bet you're wondering why I've got all this junk here,” Mr. Guthrie said. He walked over to the table that was covered with twigs, string, ribbons, and sticks. “Well, here's the sitch.”
Katie looked at him strangely. “The
what
?” she whispered to Emma W. Emma was sitting in the pink beanbag right next to Katie's yellow one.
what
?” she whispered to Emma W. Emma was sitting in the pink beanbag right next to Katie's yellow one.
“He means the situation,” Emma W. whispered back. “My big sister Lacey says that all the time.”
“Our first science unit is birds,” Mr. Guthrie explained. “And I think the best way to learn about birds is to
become
birds! So you're all going to spend the rest of the morning building your nests.”
become
birds! So you're all going to spend the rest of the morning building your nests.”
“Our
what
?” Andrew asked, surprised.
what
?” Andrew asked, surprised.
“Nests,” Mr. Guthrie repeated. “Instead of desks and chairs, you're going to spend your days sitting in nestsâat least until we've finished this unit.” He smiled at all of their surprised faces. “First, let's put some paper on the floor, under your beanbags.” He pointed to a big roll of brown paper.
“Then gather your materials from the back of the room. After you have your stuff, glue the twigs and sticks together in a big circle around your beanbag. After that, you can weave the yarn and ribbons into your nests.”
“Is there any special way we should do it?” Mandy asked.
“Build it however you like. Your nest should reflect your personality. If you like soccer, you can glue a construction paper ball onto your nest. If you like flowers, make some out of tissue paper and pipe cleaners. If music's your thing, you can decorate with musical notes and pictures of instruments. I want to be able to look at your nest, and know about you. It's a way we can get to know one another.”
“So there are no rules?” Mandy asked, surprised. She was used to all the rules in Mrs. Derkman's classroom.
“Just one,” Mr. Guthrie admitted.
Kadeem moaned. “I knew there would be a catch,” he said softly.
“Make your nest sturdy enough to last a few weeks,” Mr. Guthrie continued as if he hadn't heard Kadeem. “Just like a real bird's nest would be.” He smiled broadly at the class. “Okay, little birds, go to work!”
George was the first one to jump out of his seat and start collecting twigs and yarn. Katie had never seen him so excited about an assignment before.
“You know what kind of bird Kadeem is?” George asked Kevin.
“What kind?”
“A chicken!” George laughed loudly. Kevin chuckled too.
Katie frowned. George was obviously still mad that Kadeem had ruined his joke this morning.
“In fact, he's a
crazy
chicken,” George continued. “A cuckoo cluck!” He and Kevin laughed even harder.
crazy
chicken,” George continued. “A cuckoo cluck!” He and Kevin laughed even harder.
Kadeem stopped what he was doing and stared at George. “At least I'm not the kind of bird you are. You're part chicken, part space alien. A real
eggs-traterrestrial
!”
eggs-traterrestrial
!”
Mr. Guthrie stared at the two boys.
“Uh-oh,” Mandy whispered to Katie. “They're gonna get it now. You remember how mad Mrs. Derkman used to get when George told jokes during class?”
Katie nodded. It was hard to forget something like that.
But Mr. Guthrie didn't get angry at all. Instead, he started to laugh. “Hey, we've got comedians in this class. Rock on, dudes!”
Katie stared at her new teacher.
Rock on, dudes?
That wasn't the kind of thing a teacher said. At least not any of the teachers Katie had ever known. “You like jokes?” she asked, amazed.
Rock on, dudes?
That wasn't the kind of thing a teacher said. At least not any of the teachers Katie had ever known. “You like jokes?” she asked, amazed.
“I love to laugh,” Mr. Guthrie assured her. He turned to George and Kadeem. “Do you two dudes know the most important part of comedy?”
“Being funny?” Kadeem asked him.
Mr. Guthrie shook his head. “Nope. It's all about timing. And that's what you guys have to learn. There's a right time to kid around, but this isn't it.”
“Sorry,” George said quietly.
“I'll tell you what,” Mr. Guthrie continued with a grin. “If you two can behave all day long, I'll let you have a joke-off at the end of the day.”
“A joke-off ?
”
George asked. “What's that?”
”
George asked. “What's that?”
“It's kind of a contest,” Mr. Guthrie told him. “To see who can be the funniest dude in the class.”
Kadeem rubbed his hands together excitedly. “I'm ready for that.”
“Me too,” George said.
“Cool,” Mr. Guthrie told the boys. “Now let's get back to work. I want all you birds in your nests before lunchtime!”
Chapter 6
“Hey, Suzanne, wait up!” Katie shouted as she left school at the end of the day.
Suzanne was walking with Jessica Haynes, one of the girls in class 4B. They both stopped as Katie called out.
“Hi, Katie,” Suzanne said. “How's Mr. Guthrie?”
“Kind of weird,” Katie admitted. “But he's nice. But definitely not like any teacher we've had.”
“Ms. Sweet is awesome!” Suzanne boasted. “She brought homemade cookies for us for snack. They were shaped like birds.”
“And they were delicious,” Jessica added.
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