Gooney Bird on the Map Read Online Free PDF Page B

Bird explained, "we're going to do something that will be very tasteful and appropriate and artistic and unusual. And also educational.
    "Keiko," she asked, "did you bring the special things that I asked you for?"
    Keiko nodded happily. "Yes, they're all in my cubby."
    "Okay, guys," Gooney Bird said. "Back to the classroom. We have work to do."
    Â 
    "Eleven pairs of mittens equals how many individual mittens?" asked Mrs. Pidgeon as the children hung up their outdoor things. She was still trying to get some math done.
    "Twenty-two," Barry said. He was faster than anyone at math.
    "Right! Good, Barry. Now, if four children lost their mittens—"
    "Lost just one, or the whole pair?" Tricia asked. She draped her knitted scarf over its hook.
    "Well, just one. Let's say four mittens had been lost. So how many mittens would remain, out of the twenty-two?"
    "I lost both of my mittens at the Harry Potter movie," Nicholas said. "They fell under the seat. And my mom called the theater, but they didn't have them, so my mom thinks someone stole them!"
    "Those weren't mittens, Nicholas," Malcolm said. "Those were
gloves
you lost. Those were your Spider-Man gloves!"
    "Yeah, and somebody
stole
them! Now look what I have to wear—these dumb baby mittens!" Nicholas glared at the blue knitted mittens he had just put into his cubby.
    "Back to our math problem, children!" Mrs. Pidgeon said. "Twenty-two minus four?"
    "What if an octopus had mittens?" Malcolm shouted. "It would have
eight!
"
    "Octopuses don't have hands," Ben said.
    "It's
octopi
" Barry reminded him.
    Chelsea went over to where Mrs. Pidgeon was standing. "
U Go, Girl,
" she whispered.
    Mrs. Pidgeon, whose shoulders had begun to slump, straightened herself, went to the piano, and played a loud chord. When everyone had fallen silent, she said firmly, "Twenty-two minus four?"
    "Eighteen!" the second-graders replied.
    "Correct! Good job! Everyone in your seats now, please!"
    "
Lost your mittens? You naughty kittens!
" Tyrone sang as he went to his desk.
    "That's a baby song!" Malcolm told him.
    Tyrone poked Malcolm in the shoulder as he sauntered past. "So? Who cares? I'm a
Cool Dude
!"
    "Mrs. Pidgeon! Mrs. Pidgeon! Tyrone hit Malcolm!" Tricia called.
    "Tyrone, sit down
now.
Malcolm? You are a
Class Act,
remember? So let's behave like one."
    Malcolm scowled. So did Tyrone. But they both remained silent.
    "Go ahead, Gooney Bird," Mrs. Pidgeon said when all of the children were seated and waiting.
    Gooney Bird went to the front of the classroom. "All right, Keiko,
Sweet Thing,
pass them out," she said.
    Keiko had taken a package wrapped in brown paper from her cubby. Carefully she removed the paper. "My uncle gave me these," she explained. "They came from his restaurant."
    "Those are chopsticks!" Malcolm announced, recognizing the narrow wooden sticks. "Are we going to eat Chinese food? Are you going to make us eat rice? I
hate
rice!"
    Mrs. Pidgeon went to Malcolm and placed her calm-down hand on his shoulder.
    "No Chinese food," Gooney Bird explained.
    "These are going to be our flagpoles. You can pass them out, Keiko. One for each person."
    Carefully Keiko distributed the chopsticks.
    "NO SWORDFIGHTING!" Gooney Bird commanded when she saw Malcolm and Nicholas beginning to aim their chopsticks.
    "Next, you each get some construction paper. Sorry, Mrs. Pidgeon, but we're going to make a mess again. You can each choose the color you want." Gooney Bird walked around the desk and waited while each child chose a colored sheet of paper.
    "We're each going to cut a rectangle just big enough for a flag at the top of our flagpole. Not yet, Malcolm! Wait!" Malcolm had pulled his scissors out of his desk and was ready to begin cutting a rectangle of dark blue construction paper.
    "But we have to be sure that the flag is just big enough for this!" Gooney Bird picked up a small stack of photographs from Mrs. Pidgeon's desk. She held up the top one, a small school photo of Felicia Ann,