Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger (Wayside School 3)

“Go get it,” said Mrs. Drazil.

“If I had a screwdriver, I could get the pencil sharpener off the wall,” said Eric Fry.

“I’ve got a screwdriver!” said Jenny.

“Can we use a fluorescent light bulb?” asked Bebe. She looked up at the ceiling.

“I guess so,” said Mrs. Drazil.

“How do I get it?” asked Bebe.

“You’re the scientist,” said Mrs. Drazil. “You figure it out.”

Bebe put her chair on top of her desk and stood on it. She still couldn’t reach the ceiling. “Hey, Benjamin, let me have your chair!”

She put Benjamin’s chair on top of hers, but she still wasn’t tall enough.

Calvin dumped the wastepaper basket onto the floor. “Try this,” he said.

Bebe turned the trash can upside down and put it on top of Benjamin’s chair. Then she climbed on top, but she still couldn’t quite reach.

Leslie brought the class dictionary. Jenny and Dana donated their math books. Sharie grabbed Mrs. Drazil’s old blue notebook.

“Put that down!” yelled Mrs. Drazil. “Right now!”

Sharie dropped the notebook. Mrs. Drazil’s kindly old face had suddenly turned mean.

“Don’t ever touch that again!” Mrs. Drazil ordered.

Sharie returned, trembling, to her seat.

Everyone was staring at Mrs. Drazil. She smiled sweetly. “Go back to what you were doing,” she said.

Jason threw Bebe his lunch box. She set it on top of the books, then climbed on top. Standing on her tiptoes, she was able to pull the cover off the fluorescent light. She grabbed the light just as the pile collapsed beneath her.

She fell to the ground, triumphantly holding the unbroken light bulb high above her head.

Ron returned with a sack of potatoes from Miss Mush.

Stephen returned with Mr. Kidswatter’s coffeepot.

Eric Fry unscrewed the pencil sharpener from the wall.

Mrs. Drazil wrote “Coffeepot,” “Sack of Potatoes,” “Pencil Sharpener,” and “Light Bulb” on the blackboard.

“We’re going to drop all four objects out the window at the same time,” she said. “How many people think the coffeepot will hit the ground first?”

“Is there coffee in it?” asked John.

“It’s about half full,” Stephen reported.

Eight kids thought the coffeepot would hit the ground first. Sixteen thought the sack of potatoes would hit the ground first. Three thought the light bulb would be first. Only Terrence thought the pencil sharpener would hit first.

Jason, Jenny, Joe, John, and Joy were the judges. Mrs. Drazil sent them outside.

Stephen held the coffeepot out one window.

Bebe held the light bulb out another.