Who's Afraid of Fourth Grade? Read Online Free Page B

embarrassed.
    Katie felt really bad. Emma had asked her if she could do the homework right when they had gotten to her house. But Katie had said no. She’d meant to do it later with Emma, but they had been so busy playing with Matthew and Pepper. Before they knew it, it had been time for Emma to go home. Katie had done her homework after dinner.
    If she’d only said okay, this never would have happened to Emma. Now Mr. Guthrie was going to be mad.
    But surprisingly, Mr. Guthrie didn’t seem angry at all. In fact, he laughed. “Little brother, huh? I have one of those.”
    â€œI have three ,” Emma groaned. “And an older sister.”
    â€œBoy, you do have it rough!” Mr. Guthrie smiled kindly. “Just give it to me tomorrow. And, whatever you do, don’t leave your homework alone,” he teased. “You never know what kind of trouble a little brother can cause.”
    Emma smiled shyly as she took the homework sheet. “Tell me about it,” she agreed.
    The rest of the morning went quickly. Class 4A did their vocabulary, read the first chapter in their new reading book, and had a spelling bee. Other than his ponytail, and the fact that he made them sit in nests, Mr. Guthrie was a pretty normal teacher.
    Around eleven o’clock, Mr. Guthrie announced that it was time for a mid-morning snack.
    â€œSnack time is going to be part of our science lesson today,” he told the class. “Now, some birds, like parrots, eat seeds and fruit. Other birds, like pelicans, eat fish. Does anyone know what kind of food a robin might eat?”
    George’s hand was the first to shoot up. “They eat earthworms and snails. They dig them up and munch them down.” He made a loud slurping sound.
    â€œEew,” Emma S. groaned. “Do you have to make it sound so gross?”
    â€œHey, I’m just telling it like it is,” George replied.
    â€œGeorge is right,” Mr. Guthrie agreed. “And today, you are going to be robins. If you want to eat your snack, you’re going to have to dig for it.”
    â€œWhat’s for snack?” Kevin asked.
    â€œOh, I thought I’d made that clear,” Mr. Guthrie said as he walked over toward the small refrigerator in the corner. “You’re all robins. So, of course, you’ll be chomping on worms.”
    Katie gasped. Worms? For snack? Boy, had she been wrong about Mr. Guthrie. He wasn’t a normal teacher at all. He was just plain creepy.
    She watched as the teacher began to place small bowls of dark brown mud in front of each student. There were big clumps of dirt sitting in the mud. It was disgusting!
    The kids just stared at their snacks. No one wanted to eat dirt and worms.
    No one except George , that is. He leaned down and sniffed at his bowl of dirt. Then he grinned and happily shoved his face into the mud.
    â€œYum!” George sat up and smiled happily. His face was covered in mud. “It’s chocolate pudding with chopped-up cookies in it.”
    â€œChocolate!” Kevin exclaimed. He dug his face into the mud too. “Excellent!”
    George buried his face in his pudding again. This time, he pulled out a worm! Well, sort of.
    â€œCheck it out! Gummy worms!” George opened his mouth and showed the class a half-eaten, orange-candy worm.
    â€œThat’s gross, George,” Mandy told him. She turned to Mr. Guthrie. “May I have a spoon, please?”

    The teacher shook his head. “Sorry, Mandy. You’re a robin, remember? Robins don’t eat with forks. They use their beaks to dig for worms.”
    â€œLike this!” Kadeem exclaimed. He buried his face in his bowl of mud and worms.
    Soon all the kids were digging for worms.
    â€œYum! I found a blue-and-red one!” Andrew squealed happily. He held the gummy worm between his lips, and dangled it in front of Emma W.
    Emma laughed, and began to dig through her own bowl of mud.