Zachary Zucchini
“Get in ABC order!” our teacher commands,
So poor Zach Zucchini is the last one who stands.
Zach’s the last to line up, and he’s last down the hall.
Zach’s last out to recess, never getting a ball.
Zach’s last in the lunchroom, so he gets the worst seat.
Zach’s left the worst milk carton and hot dog to eat.
Zach’s last to assemblies and must sit in the rear.
Zach never sees the speaker; he can never hear.
Zach’s turn is last for class duties and last to speak.
Zach’s last to get handouts and last Star of the Week.
So listen students with last names X, Y, or Z.
Avoid being last; switch to an “A” family.
🎼Here's the song Zach Zucchini (video) Listen and watch
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Winslow, the Wild Wheelchair Driver
Winslow, the Wild Wheelchair Driver
Winslow whirred off in his wheelchair
When lowered from the bus.
He careened up the front door ramp,
And down the hall toward us.
We clapped and cheered as he came near.
Teachers yelled and scattered.
His chair rammed the janitor’s cart,
And ten light bulbs shattered.
He peeled off in his seat of steel.
Through the office he flew.
When he knocked the copy machine,
A thousand papers strew.
He popped a wheelie, twirling twice,
And rolled down twenty stairs.
He took a corner on two wheels,
And bowled down twenty chairs.
His wheelchair was a silver streak,
Speeding across the gym.
He struck the stage and ricocheted,
With teachers chasing him.
Winslow zoomed into his room.
Toward his desk he tore.
He yanked the brake; the tires made,
Skid marks across the floor.
Running is not allowed in school.
Now one more rule we need.
The next day signs hung in the hall:
10 MPH Maximum Speed.
🎼Hear the song Winslow the Wild Wheelchair Driver! (video) Listen and watch
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Homework Load
Homework Load
Not long ago the homework load,
Did Helen little harm.
She hiked to school with one notebook,
Tucked in her little arm.
Homework increased until the girl,
Had no choice but to pack,
Binders, texts and notebooks,
In a sack strapped on her back.
But then how Helen's shoulders slumped,
Her spine started to sag.
So Helen took to pulling books,
In a wheeled luggage bag.
As Helen grew, homework did too,
And fourth grade marked the start,
Of pushing homework to and fro,
In a large shopping cart.
Soon tractors towed her homework load.
Still Helen found no luck.
Next forklifts hauled her homework,
And then a pick-up truck.
But still the work load grew and grew,
And the truck bed overran.
So sixth grade saw Helen driving home,
In a U-Haul moving van.
Helen’s homework load reached its height,
When school closed in the fall.
For teachers assigned so much work,
No kid could move at all.
🎼Hear the song Homework Load! (video) Listen and watch
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Apple Island, or the Truth About Teachers
Bradley doesn't like school. It's boring. And his teacher, Mrs. Gross is crabby. And something is terribly wrong. It all starts when Mrs. Gross introduces a new type of math in which 6x9=54, but upside-down, 9x6=54. Then she tell the students they don’t have to use any silent letters in their spelling lessons. "Friend” is “frend” and “have” becomes “hav”. Bradley is dumbfounded and vows to get to the bottom of it. He finds a book called the Truth About Teachers that tells about Apple Island, where all teachers come from. The good teachers built an ark and came to America to set up school. The crabby ones followed them with a sinister plan. When Mrs. Gross kidnaps the classmates and whisks them off to Apple Island, it’s up to Bradley to navigate the island’s pitfalls to save his friends and school children everywhere.
BuyApple Island, the Truth About Teachers Amazon hardback
BuyApple Island, the Truth About Teachers Amazon paperback
I Don't Have To Do That Again
Noe School
A financial crisis! Cut costs! With dough running low and programs costing too much at his school, Principal Ouia insists that his staff and pupils must stop using that most popular non-consonant that follows d and is prior to f. That common writing symbol was also cut from this book!
Lipogram (from Ancient Greek: λειπογράμματος, "leaving out a letter") a kind of writing in which a particular letter or group of letters is avoided—usually a common vowel, and frequently "E", the most common letter in the English
language.
Leaving Grade 3 For the Sea
Deacon & the Chips
The microchips have taken control!
Why have the microchips in Deacon’s neighborhood—chips in traffic signals, ATM machines, mobile phones, and cars---started to communicate with Deacon? Do they want to help him out, to get free ice cream, good grades, or the occasional day off from school? No, the Chip Network wants much more from Deacon and many other children in Silicon Valley whose parents work for high-tech companies.
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PCT
Thru Hiker
Luke Dellar, age twelve, is weary of his flip-flop life. He flies to his father's house in San Diego one month and back to his mother's house in Seattle the next. He's even more tired of taking pills for his hyperactivity that has worsened since his parent's divorce. A solution to his flip-flopping, pill-popping life? Run away and hike the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2650 mile, five-month journey from the Mexican border to the Canadian border.
Watch Thru Hiker video
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Mixing Paints
Mixing Paints
Yellow and blue gives you green.
Purple blend blue and red.
But I like mixing all paints,
So I get black instead.
Punctuation
Punctuation
Cat claws to pause, small spots to stop.
Bats above balls tell us to shout!!!!!
Canes query? (Smiles!) What’re these keys? @#%^&.
Aren’t hangnails for leavin’ things out?
Dots... & dashes--“whiskers to talk”,
“Decorations”: for sentences-----
Don’t # they # make # this-
🎼Hear the song Punctuation (video) Listen and watch
Elevator Family
🎬Elevator Family Family of Books Trailer
"Only the best!"
WHAT’S THE STRANGEST HOTEL ROOM YOU’VE EVER STAYED IN? WHATEVER IT IS, THE WILSON FAMILY CAN TOP IT. BECAUSE FOR THREE DAYS, THEY LIVE IN AN ELEVATOR.
Our Teacher & the Thinking Cap
"A fable about finding your bliss."
New edition with 25 illustrations and three songs
Our Teacher, age ten, rescues a sea lion on a beach in Oregon. As a reward, the sea lion tells Our Teacher about the magical Thinking Cap, a hat when worn reveals a person’s calling. In pursuit of the cap, Our Teacher travels around the world and learns his true purpose, what he was meant to do with his life. Along the way, he discovers the attributes he has that will make him a great teacher. Book with Tunes!