Funny Fourth Grade Moments

Names have been changed to protect the innocent (and embarrassed).

The Fart

So it's silent reading last week and the whole class is working on reading stamina--sustained, independent reading. It's quiet, everyone's into their book, when one of my dear students lets rip the loudest, most obvious flatulence. There are snickers all around, but I can't crack--I'm the teacher. So I raise my book up to cover my smirk and choke on my laugh. When we gathertogether again, Al asks, "Mr. Allsop, do you know who farted?", and I say, "It doesn't matter. Let's talk about what we do during reading time if there is a distraction..."

Tied to the Test

This morning we took a written response reading test. Several students finished early and had time to sit quietly at their desks and read. Apparently, Nelly had been playing with her backpack strings under her desk, because when we started to line up for art, she couldn't get up. She had tied herself to her chair and couldn't get up. I smiled and let the rest of the class walk out to art as she looked around frantically for a savior. "Help, I'm stuck in my chair!" Bless our dear classroom manager, who stopped to free her. Hilarious!

Think Before You Speak

One of our vocab words this week is thrash-v. to move about wildly. Today I asked students to think of good descriptive sentences that show the word in context.

Mr. A: Who has a good sentence with the word thrash? Nestor?.

Nestor: My little brother thrashes about when he has to take a bath.

Mr. A: Great sentence! Using descriptive vocabulary really makes our sentences more interesting and vivid. Class, can't you just picture Nestor's little brother thrashing around in the bath?

Class: Ewwww!!

Mr. A: No I mean, no, it's descriptive, no, uh... Does anyone else have a sentence?