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Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus · Garden Heights
Part 4
for Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus · Part 4 · Chapter 4
8 Parts40 min
What Happens in Part 4
Inside Room Nine at last. The red chair Junie B. had picked out is already taken by Lucille, so she sits in a yellow one instead. The class makes name tags, and she writes JUNIE so big that the B has to be squeezed in. They draw their families. Then Mrs. walks the class around the school in buddy pairs, and Junie B. meets the parts of a school building she has never seen: the Media Center full of books, the cafeteria, and the nurse’s office. Being told to use a quiet voice is a running theme.
Quick characterization, two small conflicts, and a color that keeps coming back
Cross-Curricular
Who works in a school — and what each grown-up actually does all day
Chapter Summary
Ch.
What happens
4
Me and Lucille and Some Other Kids — The class is Room Nine. Jim scratches her new shoe on the way in. The red chair she wanted is already taken by a girl with red fingernails, Lucille, so Junie B. ends up in a yellow chair — the color of the bus. Mrs. hands out new crayons and paper circles for name tags, and Junie B. writes JUNIE so large that the B has to be squeezed in small. They draw their families. Then the class tours the school in buddy pairs: the Media Center, where the books delight her and she is asked to use a quiet voice, the cafeteria, and the nurse’s office with its two little beds and plaid blankets.
Part 1
Vocabulary
Study 10 key words from Chapter 4, then answer each question.
✏Knowledge Bank · Words for the Grown-Ups at School
Language · Job TitlesSchools use special job names, and knowing them helps a new child ask for the right person. A principal is the leader of the whole building. A secretary works in the front office, answers the telephone, and keeps the records straight. A teaching aide sits with children who need extra help, and a substitute is the teacher who comes when your own teacher is sick. A librarian takes care of the books, and a counselor listens when something is wrong at home or in the yard. Many of these workers wear no uniform at all, so the fastest way to learn who is who is to read the name badge and simply ask.
classmaten.Ch.4
A child who is in the same class as you
“My classmate saved me a seat at the table.”
scuffv.Ch.4
To scrape a shoe and leave a mark on it
“Do not scuff your new shoes on the wall.”
whisperv.Ch.4
To speak in a very soft voice
“She had to whisper so the baby would not wake up.”
indooradj.Ch.4
Meant to be used inside a building
“Please use an indoor voice while we are in the library.”
allowv.Ch.4
To let someone do something
“Our teacher does not allow running in the hall.”
politeadj.Ch.4
Kind and gentle in the way you speak and act
“It is polite to wait for your turn.”
disappointedadj.Ch.4
Sad because something did not happen the way you hoped
“He was disappointed when the last cookie was gone.”
jealousadj.Ch.4
Wanting something that belongs to someone else
“She felt jealous of the girl in the red chair.”
fluffyadj.Ch.4
Soft and puffed up, like a pillow
“Her fluffy hair bounced when she skipped.”
grumblev.Ch.4
To complain in a low, unhappy voice
“He began to grumble about the long line.”
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.
1A child who is in the same class as you is your ___.Ch.4
2To scrape a shoe and leave a mark on it is to ___ it.Ch.4
3‘Polite’ means rude and unkind.Ch.4
4Sad because something did not happen the way you hoped is ___.Ch.4
5Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch.4
Word choices:whispergrumbleallowfluffy- some words will not be used
She had to so the baby would not wake up.
Our teacher does not running in the hall.
6An ‘indoor’ voice is a loud voice used outside on the playground.Ch.4
7Wanting something that belongs to someone else is feeling ___.Ch.4
8To ‘grumble’ is to complain in a low, unhappy voice.Ch.4
9Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch.4
Word choices:classmatescuffjealouspolite- some words will not be used
It is to wait for your turn.
Do not your new shoes on the wall.
10Soft and puffed up, like a pillow, means ___.Ch.4
Part 2
Comprehension
Show you understood what happens in Chapter 4.
🏫Knowledge Bank · A School Is a Team
Education · School StaffChildren usually picture a school as a teacher and a principal, but a building full of five-year-olds needs many more hands than that. The principal hires the teachers, decides how the money is spent, and answers to families. A school secretary runs the front office: telephone calls, sign-in books, and the record of who is absent today. Cooks plan and serve hundreds of lunches before noon. A nurse handles scraped knees and keeps a health file for every child. Bus drivers, librarians, counselors, and classroom aides fill in the rest. Each worker holds one part of a child’s day, and the parts only fit because the adults keep talking to one another as a team.
1What happens to Junie B.’s new shoes while the class is lining up?Ch.4
2How does Junie B. react when her shoes are scuffed?Ch.4
3Mrs. reminds the class to use quiet indoor voices.Ch.4
4What does Junie B. do after Mrs. asks for quiet voices?Ch.4
5Write the numbers 1–5 in the boxes to show the correct order of events in Chapter 4. Number 1 = what happens first.Ch.4
Lucille gets to the red chair first.
Jim scuffs Junie B.’s new shoes and she shouts.
Mrs. asks the class to use quiet indoor voices.
Junie B. sits down on a yellow chair instead.
The children line up outside Room Nine.
6Which chair does Junie B. want when she gets inside?Ch.4
7Junie B. gets the chair she wanted most.Ch.4
8Why is a yellow chair especially bad news for Junie B.?Ch.4
9Lucille and Junie B. are in the same kindergarten room, which is called Room Nine.Ch.4
10What does this chapter show about Junie B.’s first day inside?Ch.4
Part 3
Literary Elements
Understanding HOW and WHY Barbara Park tells the story across Chapter 4.
🎓Knowledge Bank · How a Teacher Becomes a Teacher
Careers · Training and LicensesThe adult at the front of Room Nine did not simply volunteer. In most countries a teacher finishes several years of college, studies how children think and how reading is taught, and then practices in a real classroom beside an experienced teacher who watches and gives advice. After that comes a license, a paper from the government saying this person may teach. The same is true of the school nurse, who trains in health care, and of the principal, who usually taught first and then studied how to run a building. Even after the training ends, most schools require fresh classes every year, because the work keeps changing.
Character
Lucille arrives in one quick stroke: she reaches the red chair first, and Junie B. notices everything about her at once.
Conflict
Two small clashes drive the chapter — a boy who marks her shoes and a chair she cannot have.
Motif
The color yellow keeps coming back: the bus, then the chair, until it stands for everything Junie B. did not choose.
1A struggle between a character and something in her way is called ___.Ch.4
2Fill in each blank with the correct literary term.Ch.4
Word choices:conflictcharacterrhymechorus- some words will not be used
A struggle that gets in a character’s way is a .
A person in a story is a .
3The color yellow keeps returning — the bus, and now the chair. A repeating detail like this is called a ___.Ch.4
4Readers learn what Lucille is like mostly from what Junie B. notices about her.Ch.4
5Why does Junie B. lower her voice but keep saying the same thing?Ch.4
6The chapter is funny partly because Junie B. takes small problems very seriously.Ch.4
7Lucille is introduced quickly by one action. That action is ___.Ch.4
8Room Nine is the setting of most of this chapter.Ch.4
9Fill in the blank with the correct literary term.Ch.4
Word choices:motifplotmetersimile- some words will not be used
A detail that keeps coming back and carries a meaning is a .
10How does Barbara Park mostly show Junie B.’s feelings?Ch.4
Part 4
Think Deeper
Four deeper challenges — no single-word recall. Read, weigh the evidence, and reason it out.
💉Knowledge Bank · The Nurse and the Health Room
Health · School Health CareNearly every school keeps one small room with a cot, an ice pack, and a locked cabinet. The person who works there is the school nurse, and the job is far bigger than bandages. A nurse keeps a health record for each child listing allergies, medicines, and shots, and a child who must take medicine during the day usually takes it here. Nurses also watch for patterns: several sore throats in one class can mean an illness is spreading, so the nurse telephones families early. Most of all, the health room is a quiet place to lie down for ten minutes, and for a tired five-year-old that quiet is very often the whole cure.
Think back over this chapter. A line of children waiting outside a door with a number on it. A foot that comes down where it should not, a mark on a shoe that was clean an hour ago, and a shout that jumps out before anybody can stop it. A teacher’s reminder about quiet voices, obeyed exactly and not at all. Then a race nobody announced: through the door, across the floor, toward a red chair that another girl reaches first. And so, on a day that was supposed to be exciting, a five-year-old ends up sitting in the one color she has already decided to hate.
Original passage written for Garden Heights — not a quotation from the novel.
1Claim: “Junie B. follows the rules she is given, but only as far as the words go.” — choose the two details that best prove it.Claim & Evidence
2Things Junie B. can control, or Things she cannot control? Tap each detail to send it left or right.Sort into two
◄ Things Junie B. can controlThings she cannot control ►
3Match each cause to its result. For each cause, pick its result.Cause & Effect
Jim scuffs Junie B.’s brand-new shoes→
Mrs. asks the class for quiet voices→
Lucille reaches the red chair first→
Yellow is the color of the school bus→
4Fill both blanks to complete the reasoning.Build the Argument
When Mrs. asks the class to use quiet voices, Junie B. , which shows that .
Part 5
Standardized Test
Reading passage · Who Works in a School · Central Ideas & Words in Context · SAT & TOEFL-style practice
🎯 What this section practices
You already have these skills from the sections above — here they appear in the exact question types the SAT and TOEFL use. Read the passage (the highlighted words are tested below), then answer. Tap an answer to select it, then tap it again to confirm — you can change your choice until you confirm.
SATCentral Ideas — the main point of the passage as a whole
TOEFLFactual Information — a fact stated directly in the passage
SATWords in Context — what a word means the way this passage uses it
TOEFLInsert Text — where a given sentence best fits among four marked spots
TOEFLVocabulary — the meaning of a tested word as this passage uses it
SATInference — a conclusion the passage supports without ever stating it outright
SATAuthor’s Purpose — what the author is trying to accomplish by writing this
The Many Adults Who Run a School
A school runs on many more grown-ups than a child ever counts. The teacher is the one a class sees all day, but she is only one worker on a large staff. The principal leads the whole building, hires the teachers, and decides how the money is spent. In the front office a secretary answers the telephone, keeps the sign-in book, and knows where every class has gone. A nurse looks after scraped knees and keeps a health record for each child. A librarian teaches children how to hunt for a book, and cooks plan and serve hundreds of lunches before noon. Classroom aides sit beside the children who need extra help. Bus drivers, counselors, and crossing guards belong on the same list, though children meet them less often. Not one of these workers could do the whole job alone, which is why a school is best understood as a team.
Original passage written for Garden Heights — not a quotation from the novel.
1What is the main idea of the passage?SAT · Central Ideas
2According to the passage, what does the school secretary do?TOEFL · Factual Information
3In the passage, staff means ___.SAT · Words in Context
4According to the passage, who keeps a health record for each child?TOEFL · Factual Information
5Insert Text (TOEFL). Look at the four squares [1]–[4] in the excerpt below. They show where this sentence could be added: “That is why a visitor must stop at the office window and sign in before going any farther.”
A school office does more than answer the telephone. [1] The secretary who sits there keeps a written list of every adult who is allowed inside the building. [2] Nobody whose name is missing from that list may walk past the office and into the halls. [3] The same list is checked again at the end of the day, when children are handed to the adults who came for them. [4]
Where would the sentence fit best?TOEFL · Insert Text
6In the passage, aides means ___.TOEFL · Vocabulary
7According to the passage, what does a librarian teach children?TOEFL · Factual Information
8In the passage, team means ___.SAT · Words in Context
9The passage suggests that a school would struggle if ___.SAT · Inference
10Why does the writer list so many different workers?SAT · Author’s Purpose
Part 6 · Optional
Creative Writing
A bonus challenge to practice your English. Take your time and have fun with it.
About This Section
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 4 “The Grown-Up Who Helps You”
In Chapter 4 Junie B. meets her class and her teacher, Mrs., and the morning is full of grown-ups doing different jobs. Write about one adult at your school, or in your neighborhood, who helps you. What is that person’s job? What does the job look like on an ordinary day? 5–8 sentences. End by saying one thing you would like to thank that person for.
You can start with: “The person who helps me most at school is...”
0 / 40 words minimum
🗣 Teach It · Just for Fun (optional)
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 4 Complete!
You finished Chapter 4 of Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus.
Here are your auto-graded results:
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points out of 100
🗣 Teach It · Just for Fun (optional)
Teach it to someone
The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Barbara Park. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced. Reference text: This workbook follows Barbara Park’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.
