Charlotte Morgan and the Great Big Math Problem--Chapter 14--Change My Partner!

 This is my next book. 

 It is currently being copy edited, (so there will be the occasional typo in this version) and I am having a few illustrations done.

I am including the tag #steemiteducation because I wrote this thinking like a teacher.  The characters use math and describe their math thinking as they work through problems.  I am a former 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade teacher, so I used my experience and background from those years as I wrote this.

Update: The book is now available for preorder on Amazon.  

Click here to get it on Kindle.Click here to preorder the books

Chapter 14: Change My Partner!

Summary:  Charlotte begs Mrs. King, her teacher, to change her partner for math class.

The lunch room was loud.  Us third graders come into the cafeteria while the Kindergartners are halfway through their lunch.  And when we third graders came in, it always got a little louder as the kindergartners would get excited to see us big third graders.

Sally and I sat down on the farthest end of the lunch table, away from the lunch line.  Gavin sat on the other end, where Mrs. King told him to sit.  The rest of don’t have assigned seats.

“Are you okay?” Sally looked at me.  Her eyes filled with concern.

I leaned across the table, “I can’t believe that she assigned me Gavin.”  My stomach was still in knots, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to eat lunch.

Aaron and Marcus sat down next to us.  Marcus got straight to the point, “What are you going to do?”

I shook my head.  “I don’t know!”

“I wonder why she assigned you two together?” Aaron asked.

“Because she hates me!” I felt like I was going to cry.

“She doesn’t hate you!  Maybe she’s doing it because you are good at math, and Gavin isn’t.  You know teachers like to do stuff like from time to time,” said Sally.

“At recess, we’ll all go tell Mrs. King how Gavin teases us.  She’ll understand.  She’ll have to change your partner!” Aaron was certain of it.

It feels good to have friends like this.  We finished lunch by talking about a Youtube video we saw where a kid spilled spaghetti down his pants.

After lunch we went outside for recess, and the four of us stood around trying to get the courage to go talk to Mrs. King.

“Mrs. King will completely understand when you tell her what Gavin does,” Sally.  She she pointed to where Mrs. King was

I nodded my head.  “Of course, she will,” I told myself.

Marcus patted me on the shoulder, “We’ll all go together.”

“Thanks,” I replied.

At 12:35 pm we were outside for recess.

We waited until we saw Gavin playing on the field in the middle of the track.  We headed as a group to Mrs. King, where she was watching the monkey bars.

Marcus spoke first, “Mrs. King, Charlotte has something to ask you.”

Mrs. King turned and looked down at me.  “Yes, Charlotte?  Ah yes!  You had something to discuss with me about your partner.”

The words just came out, “I can I get another partner for the Math Bee?”

“You don’t want to work with Gavin?” Mrs. King asked.

“No!  He teases me for being good at math, in fact he teases all of us for being good at math.” 

“Yeah, he does tease us, Mrs. King,” said Sally.

“He’s just mean to us for being good at math,” complained Marcus.

“So can she have another partner?  She can partner with me and Sarah,” said Aaron.

Mrs. King motioned at my friends, “You three go play somewhere else and let me speak with Charlotte.”

They hung their heads and headed to the playground.  They dragged their feet and looked us over their shoulder as they went.

“Charlotte, I partnered Gavin with you, because you are good at math.  He needs help in math.  If I partnered him with someone else he may goof off more.  It’s my  hope that you’ll be able to help him.”

“I figured that was why you put me with him.”

Mrs. King put her hand on my shoulder, “If he bothers you, let me know immediately.  I was unaware that he was teasing you and your friends about math.  It is hard for me to help if I don’t know something is going on.  So thank you for letting me know.”

“Please, Mrs. King!  Change my partner!” I pleaded.

Mrs. King looked at me, “If change it, then all the other students will beg to have their partners changed.  If he causes you problems, bullies or teases you, then let me know immediately.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.  I knew there was no point to keep arguing.

I walked down to my friends.  I shook my head as I walked.

The score was: Teacher one, student zero.

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