“Jackie Macky will be walking and talking very soon,” Miss Daisy told us. “But I’m a little worried about her. Today is her first time in day care.”

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll be fine,” said Alexia.

“But what if something happens to her?” asked Miss Daisy. “She might fall, or one of the other kids might hurt her. I’ve never been away from Jackie Macky for more than a few minutes.”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” I assured Miss Daisy. “I was in day care when I was Jackie Macky’s age, and look how I turned out.”

“You’re a mess, Arlo,” said Andrea.

“Your face is a mess!” I told Andrea.

“Oh, snap!” said Ryan.

Andrea and I stuck out our tongues at each other.

“Enough bickering, you two,” said Miss Daisy. “We have a lot to do today. Mr. Cooper left me a list of things you need to learn while he’s gone.”

Miss Daisy picked up a big pad of paper and showed the list to us.

•  Who invented kitty litter?

•  Why is the Statue of Liberty green?

•  How many stomachs does a cow have?

•  Which planet has the most moons?

•  What is a footnote?*

Miss Daisy looked at the list for a long time. Then she did the most amazing thing in the history of the world. She ripped the list into little pieces!

“Those are ridiculous things to learn,” she said. “Do you really want to learn stuff today?”

“Yes!” shouted all the girls.

“No!” shouted all the boys.

“What do you want to learn?” Miss Daisy asked.

“I want to learn about science,” said Andrea.

“Well, I don’t know anything about that,” replied Miss Daisy.

“I want to learn math,” said Emily.

“Well, I don’t know anything about that either,” replied Miss Daisy.

“I want to learn about history,” said Alexia.

“I can’t help you there,” replied Miss Daisy.

“I want to learn about current events,” said Annette.

“I’m clueless about current events,” replied Miss Daisy.

Miss Daisy doesn’t know anything about anything! She must be the dumbest teacher in the history of the world.

“Is there anything that you do know about?” asked Michael.

Miss Daisy thought about it for a long time.

“Yes!” she finally told us. “There is one thing I know a lot about. Bonbons!”

Bonbons are chocolate treats about the size of a large acorn. They’re yummy.

“I’ll tell you what,” Miss Daisy said. “Let’s take a break from learning new things. You can have indoor recess for the rest of the day. Instead of learning, we can just sit around eating bonbons.”

“Yay!” everybody shouted.

Miss Daisy took some bonbons out of her purse and passed them around. She’s the best teacher in the history of the world!

3. A Writing Lesson