This chapter was inspired by an episode of Arthur.
The class had been learning about different types of weather all week. They were doing a work sheet where the they had to match the clothes to the season you would wear them in.
The next thing they did was match the months to the seasons. It was difficult for some of the kids but they all eventually got the months where they were supposed to go.
The most exciting thing they got to do was study about valcanos. They each got to help make an eruption. They even watched a video about valcanos, which showed a little bit of the Philippines because there was a big eruption from mount Pinatubo there.
It was Friday and they had been doing different weather related activities all week for science time. It was circle time and all the kids were seated on the rug.
"I want you all to split into groups of three." Mrs. Mentzel instructed. THe class took a few minutes to decode who they wanted in their group. Before they could get started though the principal came over the intercom announcing school would be closing early due to the threat of a hurricane and that all the parents had been notified.
Chuckie looked out the window."Uh Tommy why does the sky look so scary?"
Tommy looked out the window to see black clouds."It's cuz a hurricane is coming, but don't worry. Our mommy's and daddy's will be here soon to take us home." As soon as Tommy finished his sentence the lights went out. They all played eye spy with the flashlights until their parents came to get them.
Chas and Betty took Chuckie, Kimi, Phil ,and Lil to the Java Lava to finish getting ready for the hurricane while Kira and Howard went to the store for supplies.
"That should do it." Betty said as she putthe last wood plank over the window.
"Why do you put wood on the windows?" Phil asked as his mom came in as it started to get windy.
"It helps protect the window and keep the shop safe." Betty explained as they all walked out the door to go home.
Zack was watching the hurrican coverage on the news when the power went out. He found the weather app on his aunt's phone just as the power came back on. He closed the app and returned to the tv. he had become fascinated with weather over this past week and was excoted something was happening besides just being sunny or cloudy.
The rain poured down all night and into the next day. Angelica and her parents had to go to ashelter because all the hotels were full from the people whose houses were hit earlier in the week.
Angelica was sitting on a cot holding Cynthia when she heard a familiar voice.
"Hi Angelica." Susie greeted.
"Oh great. You're here." Angelica said crossing her arms.
"Yeah a tree fell on our house." Susie explained.
"Ours flooded." Angelica said.
That night Susie and Angelica couldn't sleep because all the people snored so they played in the halls all night.
Kai and kya were helping their family clean up the yard. THey noticed the treehouse was damaged. Kai spotted something and ran over to the pile of wood that once was a treehouse.
"My Maui hook." Kai cried pulling out the plastc fish hook."It's all broke."
"We'll get you a new one." Grace said."Nobody else go over there. You could get hurt."
Betty took Phil and Lil to check on the Java Lava. When they got there they saw a tree had fallen through the window and the place was a mess inside.
"How come our store got all broke and nobody elses did?" Lil asked looking downthe street at all the stores that were intouched by the storm.
"It just happend that way." Betty said calling Chas to tell him what happened.
On Monday everyone went back to school. It was still raining slightly.
"Are we going to learn more about weather?" Zack asked as class began.
"I think we've had enough weather for whaile." The teacher said."Instead we're going to watch a movie for recess." They watched The princess and the frog while they ate a snack.
"It's impossible to turn into a frog if you kiss one." Zack said crossing his arms.
"Not if your a princess." Lil said.
"I would never ever ever kiss a frog." Kya said making a face.
"What if it made you a princess?" Lil asked.
Kya shook her head no."I still wouldn't do it. Frogs are gross."
"I think it would be fun to be a frog." Phil said turning away from the movie.
"I don't." Chuckie shuddered.
When the movie was over the kids all took a nap which was easy to do with the rain coming down outside.
"for our last waether activity we're going to make a tornado in a jar." Mrs. Mentzel announced the next day at school.
She had Tommy pass out plastic bottles while she placed a cup of vinegar and a bottle of dish soap at each table. THere was a line drawn on the bottles to tell how much was needed. Each child went to the sink and filled their bottle with water to the line and then sat down and waited for instructions.
"You put one teaspoon of vinegar and one teaspoon of dish soap in your water and close the bottle tight and shake it. To make it look like a tornado you shake it lin a cicular motion." Mrs. Mentzel demonstrated."You can even add glittler if you want to make it look like debris."
Almost everyone added glitter to their bottles, each kid chose a different color.
"I like our tornado bottles." Tommy said making his swirl like a tornado.
"My favorite was the valcano." Kai said.
"Mr too." Kya agreed.
After school Kai and kya came home to a nice surprise. Their treehouse was fixed and Kai had a new fish hook.