questioning look.
"When you hear something sad and serious," Gooney Bird explained, "you should always have a moment of silence. You don't have to close your eyes or anything."
"Well, I like the idea of an occasional moment of silence," Mrs. Pidgeon said. "Let's do it. A moment of silence for William Henry Harrison, class, because he died after being president for only one month."
"Bummer!" said Tyrone. He began one of his raps."
First he be elected, then he be rejected...
"
"Moment of silence, Tyrone," Gooney Bird reminded him. "Anyway, he wasn't rejected," she pointed out. "He got sick and died."
The class was all silent for a few seconds.
"And nobody remembers him," Keiko added, sadly.
"Except Gooney Bird Greene," Nicholas pointed out.
"I remember
everything,
"Gooney Bird said.
Â
"Well," Mrs. Pidgeon said, after the moment of silence had ended and she had looked around the room with a sigh, "another day in the second grade. I wish we had cleaned this mess up better yesterday before school ended."
The children all agreed. They had been working on valentines to take home to their parents. Now the valentines were done, but there was red construction paper everywhere, as well as scissors and paste, Magic Markers, and white paper that they had folded and cut into snowflakes. Tiny white scraps were all over the floor.
"Mr. Furillo will clean it up," Nicholas said. "That's his job."
"Nope," the teacher said. "It's our job. Let's do it quickly. We have to get to work on our geography lesson."
"Mrs. Pidgeon?" Gooney Bird raised her hand. "I have an idea! We could do both at once!"
"Sounds good." Mrs. Pidgeon had begun to walk around the room, collecting unused sheets of construction paper. She held a stack of red papers in her hand. When she got to Gooney Bird's desk she looked down in surprise. "My goodness!" she said. "A
blue
valentine?"
Gooney Bird nodded. She looked proudly at the large blue paper heart that she had decorated with a yellow arrow, and the words I LOVE YOU carefully lettered in brown. "Yes," she said. "I like to be different."
Mrs. Pidgeon looked at Gooney Bird, who today was wearing unmatched socks, knickers, and a pearl necklace over her LOVE YOUR MOTHER T-shirt. "I know you do," she said fondly. "Finished with your paste?"
Gooney Bird nodded, and Mrs. Pidgeon picked up the square of paper with a white dab of dried paste on it. "Here's what we'll do," she announced to the class. "Put your valentines away neatly in your desks so they don't get crumpled. I'll come around with the wastebasket, and each of you deposit all of your used paste and your paper scraps."
"Like on an airplane!" Barry announced. "When the flight attendant comes around with a plastic trash bag!"
"Yes, a little like that," Mrs. Pidgeon said. She went to the front of the room and picked up the large wastebasket.
"I'm going on an airplane for vacation! I'm going all the way toâ"
"Enough, Barry! We've all heard about your plans."
"Me too!" Beanie called out. "I'm going on a plane!"
Hastily Mrs. Pidgeon set the wastebasket down, went to the piano, and played a chord to quiet the class. Then she played the opening line to a familiar song, a song that the children had sung many times.
"'This Land Is Your Land'!" Chelsea called.
"Right," Mrs. Pidgeon said. She stood up and started around with the wastebasket. "This land is our land, and we're going to work again today on the state capitals."
"Tyrone can't use his lunch box!" Malcolm called. "No fair for him to use his lunch box!"
"No, Tyrone won't use his lunch box. It's in your cubby, isn't it, Tyrone?"
Tyrone nodded. All of the children looked toward Tyrone's cubby. They could see the handle of his lunch box poking out below his hat and mittens. Tyrone's lunch box listed all the states, their capitals, and the names of famous people who had been born there.
"All right, here we go! You all should be cleaning up your valentine scraps! First state:
"When you hear something sad and serious," Gooney Bird explained, "you should always have a moment of silence. You don't have to close your eyes or anything."
"Well, I like the idea of an occasional moment of silence," Mrs. Pidgeon said. "Let's do it. A moment of silence for William Henry Harrison, class, because he died after being president for only one month."
"Bummer!" said Tyrone. He began one of his raps."
First he be elected, then he be rejected...
"
"Moment of silence, Tyrone," Gooney Bird reminded him. "Anyway, he wasn't rejected," she pointed out. "He got sick and died."
The class was all silent for a few seconds.
"And nobody remembers him," Keiko added, sadly.
"Except Gooney Bird Greene," Nicholas pointed out.
"I remember
everything,
"Gooney Bird said.
Â
"Well," Mrs. Pidgeon said, after the moment of silence had ended and she had looked around the room with a sigh, "another day in the second grade. I wish we had cleaned this mess up better yesterday before school ended."
The children all agreed. They had been working on valentines to take home to their parents. Now the valentines were done, but there was red construction paper everywhere, as well as scissors and paste, Magic Markers, and white paper that they had folded and cut into snowflakes. Tiny white scraps were all over the floor.
"Mr. Furillo will clean it up," Nicholas said. "That's his job."
"Nope," the teacher said. "It's our job. Let's do it quickly. We have to get to work on our geography lesson."
"Mrs. Pidgeon?" Gooney Bird raised her hand. "I have an idea! We could do both at once!"
"Sounds good." Mrs. Pidgeon had begun to walk around the room, collecting unused sheets of construction paper. She held a stack of red papers in her hand. When she got to Gooney Bird's desk she looked down in surprise. "My goodness!" she said. "A
blue
valentine?"
Gooney Bird nodded. She looked proudly at the large blue paper heart that she had decorated with a yellow arrow, and the words I LOVE YOU carefully lettered in brown. "Yes," she said. "I like to be different."
Mrs. Pidgeon looked at Gooney Bird, who today was wearing unmatched socks, knickers, and a pearl necklace over her LOVE YOUR MOTHER T-shirt. "I know you do," she said fondly. "Finished with your paste?"
Gooney Bird nodded, and Mrs. Pidgeon picked up the square of paper with a white dab of dried paste on it. "Here's what we'll do," she announced to the class. "Put your valentines away neatly in your desks so they don't get crumpled. I'll come around with the wastebasket, and each of you deposit all of your used paste and your paper scraps."
"Like on an airplane!" Barry announced. "When the flight attendant comes around with a plastic trash bag!"
"Yes, a little like that," Mrs. Pidgeon said. She went to the front of the room and picked up the large wastebasket.
"I'm going on an airplane for vacation! I'm going all the way toâ"
"Enough, Barry! We've all heard about your plans."
"Me too!" Beanie called out. "I'm going on a plane!"
Hastily Mrs. Pidgeon set the wastebasket down, went to the piano, and played a chord to quiet the class. Then she played the opening line to a familiar song, a song that the children had sung many times.
"'This Land Is Your Land'!" Chelsea called.
"Right," Mrs. Pidgeon said. She stood up and started around with the wastebasket. "This land is our land, and we're going to work again today on the state capitals."
"Tyrone can't use his lunch box!" Malcolm called. "No fair for him to use his lunch box!"
"No, Tyrone won't use his lunch box. It's in your cubby, isn't it, Tyrone?"
Tyrone nodded. All of the children looked toward Tyrone's cubby. They could see the handle of his lunch box poking out below his hat and mittens. Tyrone's lunch box listed all the states, their capitals, and the names of famous people who had been born there.
"All right, here we go! You all should be cleaning up your valentine scraps! First state:
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