Ep 4 Hickory Dickory Mouse

Is Mr McMarlow, afraid of a friendly library mouse?? Absolutely. It will take the combined smarts of the kids in Room 3 to save the day, name the mouse and perform a new song in assembly. 

Transcript

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Welcome back to the Telling on the Teacher podcast. This story is called Hickory Dickory Mouse. There's a teacher at our school who always seems to break the rules telling on the teacher. What do you? Well, the kids in room three were a bit disappointed. It was raining, and it was Friday. And Friday was normally the day they go out to play softball, but or t ball, and they couldn't because of the weather. They were looking up at their whiteboard and Ed C said, Hey Mr. McMahon, why does it say Fryberry on the board? Did you spell that wrong? Nope, said Mr McMarlow. Since we can't go and play T ball, we're going to go to the library on Friday. So I'm calling it Fryberry. Can you get that box of ukulele's? We'll take that over to the library too. But the library is a quiet place, said Edsy. Yes, I know, said Mr McMahlow. We'll just play quietly in the library. It's not a rock show or anything. And maybe you'll even find a book about a ukulele and want to play some music. The class, uh, room three, knew that Mr McMahlow was always trying to sneak in some extra ways of playing ukulele. Um he always is trying to do silly songs like On Top of Spaghetti, On Top of Spaghetti, or a song called Down by the Bay, Down by the B. Usually silly songs, including um his songs in assembly. Uh his original, you might have heard of Stuck in a Tree, Stuck in a Tree. Well, like usual, he was finding ways to sneak in more ukulele practice, like taking ukulele's to the library. He did this other times as well. Like in maths, he would get the kids to play ukulele in maths, to do repeating patterns. They would do loud, loud, quiet, quiet, quiet. And even had to do scales. In science, they had to find out how sounds travel, and they even had to play ukulele underwater in the school swimming pool. Apparently, according to Mr. McMahlow, they were learning about how sounds travel through water. There was even a time when they used ukulelis for PE. They had to run to the other side of the hall, play the C chord three times, and then run back. And so it wasn't exactly surprising that they were going to be playing ukulele in the library. But Mr. McMarlow told Ed Z and TJ and Jackie and Sophie to choose a ukulele and play it quietly. Everyone else was getting out a library book and they started to play the ukulele and started to read the library books. Um Edsey was helping the other kids to learn some of the chords on the ukulele. They were doing row, row, row your boat. Row, row, row your boat. Chad eat out the stream. There was a knock on the door. That was Miss O'Connell. Can I have a word with you, please, Mr. McMahlow? Said Miss O'Connell. Oh, I hope it's not more paperwork like that. Health and safety form. That was Mr. McMahlow mumbling away to himself. He told the kids to keep playing, keep practicing. So he went over to talk to Miss O'Connell. And uh Etsy said, Let's do the cheeky verse about the teacher going overboard. Row roll roll your board gently down the screen. Push your teacher overboard and listen to him scream. The kids giggled and TJ noticed something moving under the librarian's chair. What's that moving under the librarian's cheer? asked TJ. I don't see anything, said Jackie. I didn't see anything, said Edine. No, I thought I saw something, said TJ. Oh well, probably nothing. Let's sing that verse again. That was a funny one. Row row row the boat gently down the stream. Push a teacher overboard and listen to Ah There was a huge scream. That was Mr McMarlow. He jumped up on the librarian's desk. Rat cried Mr McMahlow. I saw a rat and it's under that bookshelf. I saw it too, said TJ. He was lying um on the carpet with his face right under a bookshelf, um looking to see if he could see the mouse. But it's not a rat. It's just a little mouse. Uh it's hiding behind a sock. It's hiding behind a sock. Get rid of it, said Mr McMullow. No, said Jamie. It could be our pet library mouse. No, said Mr McMurlow. No pet library mouses. It's scary. Yes, said Sophie, it can be our pet mouse. We need to give it a name. I'm gonna think of a name for it. The mouse ran out from under the shelf and ran under the photocopier. Mr McMurlow screamed again. Ah But it was that kind of scream that had a little smile at the end of it? Miss O'Connell was watching all of this. Really, Mr McMurlow, get down from there, said Miss O'Connell. No way, not while that mouse is around, said Mr McMurlow. I'll have to talk to you later then, said Miss O'Connell. And she clopped down in her high heels. Clop, clop, clop, clop. Oh, I know, said Sophie. I'm gonna give it a name. Let's call it Scamper. Um the kids were all looking at Mr. McMahlow and then looking at the mouse where it was hiding. And Jacob said, Well, we could get it out. And came up with an idea. TJ, you move the photocopier and I'll grab it. TJ moved the photocopier and the mouse raced out, zooming along the carpet and hid behind the green paper recycling bin. Jacob tried diving to grab it as it ran along, but it was too fast. Ah screamed Mr. McMahlow again. Get Mr. Label quick. Mr Label was the caretaker, or as Jackie called him, the property manager. Mr. Label was Jackie's dad. We need something to catch it with, said Sophie. Like a net or a box, said Jackie. She found a box full of new books, stacked the books on the table. She took all the book books out of the out of the box and said, We'll try using this box to catch the catch the mouse. Hey Sophie, you move that paper recycling box and I will catch it in this book box. So Sophie sneaked over to the paper recycling box and put her hand on it. Are you ready, Jackie? Ready, said Jackie. She was holding her book box with two hands just above the floor. Sophie pulled back the paper green recycling box, and Jackie launched forward and slammed the box down. But the mouse sped along the edge of the wall and under another bookshelf. Oh, it's too fast, said Jackie. We're going to need another plan. We could set a trap for it, said Jamie. No, don't kill it, said Sophie. I want to name it Chase. That's a nice name for a mouse, Chase. We'll catch it alive and release it, said Jamie. I wasn't meaning to trap it and hurt it. I just we'll just we just need to kind of trap that or catch it and then we can let it outside. I think I know how to make one. We'll need a ruler and some string. And can I use that box, Jackie? Jackie set up the box upside down like a drum on the carpet. Um she tilted it up and used the ruler to make a little gap. So now the box was like lying on top of the ruler, and she tied a long piece of string to the ruler. And Sophie held the ruler up and the end of the string was down the bottom, and Jamie balanced the box upside down on the ruler. And so there was a little gap for the mouse to run under the box. Okay, said Jamie. When it's under the box, we pull the string, the ruler comes out, and the box will fall down and land on the mouse. But how will we get the mouse to run under the box? said TJ. Bait, said Jamie. Who has cheese? Uh I have popcorn, said Jacob. God, that'll do, said Jamie. And so TJ ran to collect the popcorn, and they carefully laid a trail of popcorn from where the mouse was hiding all the way over and put some pieces under the box. All right, now we have to wait patiently, said Jackie. Everyone tiptoed to find a quiet place to watch. Mr McMullow got down from his table and got out his computer from his bag and put the computer on the table and was tapping away, but he was keeping his distance. Well, it was five minutes went past, and the kids got a bit bored and started reading books and whispering. But Jamie, she kept her eyes on that photocopier where that mouse was hiding. So did Sophie and Jackie. They kept watching. Ten minutes went past, and Jamie and Sophie and Jackie were still watching. A little brown nose peeked out from under the photocopier. Said Sophie, I can see him. We could we can call it nosy, said Sophie to Jackie. The mouse crept out and nibbled the first piece of popcorn. Oh no, why don't we call him nibbles? said Sophie. Mr McMahlin looked up from his laptop and saw the mouse. Oh he yelled in surprise. Everyone looked up. The mouse raced under the box. Jamie pulled the string. The ruler fell over and the box landed on the mouse. Got it, she said. Yay, cheered everyone. Now we just have to get it outside, said Jamie. She put her hands on the box and held them there, and started to move it towards the door. But Mr McMarlow was sitting at a table right next to the door. Not this way, said Mr McMarlow. You'll be fine, said Jackie, just sit still. She started sliding the box further towards the door, keeping the box on the floor so the mouse couldn't scamper out of it. She got past Mr McMahlow, who sat there frozen, his eyes were fixed on the box, looking very worried, but Jamie got it all the way over to the door. But there's a little problem. There's a little lip on the door, like a little ridge she had to get it over. And so she very carefully just tilted it up to get it over that ridge so she could get the box out the door. But just as she was about to get the box over the little lip in the door, a whole line of kids, junior kids, were walking past the library and they were being really, really noisy. Jamie lifted the box a little bit to get the box over the lip, but the mouse raced out, and instead of running out the door to freedom, the mouse got scared of the noisy juniors and instead zoomed under Mr. McMahlow's table. Ah screamed Mr McMahlow. It's chasing me! He leapt up, tipped over the chair, and ran out the door of the library. Hudson was shaking his head. No running in the library, Mr. McMahlow. But the mouse had hid under another bookshelf. Oh, come on, everyone, said Jacob. It's break time. Let's not waste all of our break trying to catch a mouse. So everybody went out the library. Mr. McMahlow was calling to them, Come on, everybody! Everybody out the library. He was standing at a very safe distance. So all the kids followed Mr. McMahlow out and they had their break. Well, after the break, Mr. McMahlow refused to go back into the library. Um, Sophie, please go and collect my computer and bag. Jamie, I want you to tidy up the mouse trap and the books. Jacob and TJ, collect the ukulelis and the papers. Be quick, because we are supposed to be reading with Mrs. Street's class in five minutes. Back in her class. Meet us over at Mrs. Street's class, okay? All the kids said okay, and they walked over to the library. Sophie, Jacob, Jamie, TJ, and Jacob walked over there, and they helped Jamie to tidy up the mouse trap, including the popcorn that was left next to the ukulele's. What are we gonna do about the mouse? said Jacob. Probably nothing, said TJ. Mr. Labour will have to take care of it. Oh the poor mousie, said Jamie. I hope it will be okay. Sophie said, I wanted it to be our pet. Maybe I was thinking of calling it whiskers. What's that sound? said Jacob. There's a there's a funny sound coming from the turquoise ukulele. They all listened. Just grab the grab the ukuleles quick, said Sophie, and she picked up Mr. McMarlow's computer and zipped it up into his bag. We're gonna be late for reading with Mrs. Street's class. Come on. So TJ and Jacob picked up the ukuleles and and carried them over to Mrs. Street's class. All of Mrs. Street's junior kids, she had five year olds and and her class. They were all sitting sitting next to Mr. McMahlow, and they were having a special reading time together. The the older kids from Mr. McMahlow's class were going to read with the with the younger kids. Mr. Marshmallow, Mr. Marshmallow, play us the stuck in the tree song, asked the five-year-olds. Or one of the one of the five-year-olds. I think it was Jason. Of course, Mr. McMahlow couldn't resist. He loved having an audience and playing his songs. Bring me my favourite turquoise ukulele, said Mr. McMahlow to Jacob. So Jacob brought it over, but he thought maybe it somehow it felt a little bit different. He handed it to Mr. McMahon, and that's when he realized that there was something moving inside the ukulele. Mr McMahlow, said Jacob, I I I think that may be tell me soon, said Mr. McMahlow, and he started to sing a song. Stuck in a tree, stuck in a tree. Can someone please get me a You know what that was. Mr McMahlo was screaming as he realized there was something running around inside his ukulele. He threw the ukulele into the air and leapt backwards. Luckily Jacob was right there, and he gently caught the ukulele before it hit the ground. The kids all gave him a clap. Hey Here you go, Jamie, said Jacob. He passed the ukulele to Jamie. I think we did catch a mouse after all. Jamie took the ukulele and looked inside the ukulele. Oh the mouse is in here, she said. And it's okay. I'll go and let him outside. Looks uh it stopped raining, luckily, uh or just a tiny bit of rain, and so she took him out to the field. Don't let it go next to the classrooms, said Mr McMarlow. Don't worry, I'll take them over to the sticky stick bushes, said Jamie. So Jamie went out, and Sophie and Jackie came too. Uh and they were put the ukulele and they put it down on the grass with the strings facing down. And so the little brown mouse poked its nose out and s scampered under the sticky stick bushes and hit under the leaves. Bye bye, Mr Brown, said Sophie. I've decided to call him Mr Brown. After that it was time for assembly. Can I do the song and assembly today? asked Edzie. Mr McMurlow was still pretty shaken up by the mouth, so he said, Ah yes, you can do that. I'm a bit too bit too shaken up to do my song and assembly today. Good, said Edzie. I think I've got the perfect one. Well, of course Mr McMurlow had to do his famous certificates in assembly. You can probably guess who got the certificates from room three. The first certificate, said Mr McMahlow, is for technology development and invention which shows kindness to animals. That certificate goes to Jamie. All the kids gave her a clap. The second certificate is for creativity in choosing names, and that is for Sophie. All the kids gave her a clap. Sophie walked up to collect her certificate. So what did you end up naming our library mouse? asked Mr. McMarlow. I called him Mr. Brown, announced Sophie with a smile. Finally, said Mr. McMarlow, I have a certificate for someone who has excellent diving and catching skills, and must have been practicing a lot of sports. This certificate goes to Jacob. And all the kids gave Jacob a big round of applause. And thank you for saving my favourite Turquoise ukulele. Helping to get the mouse out. So Jacob came up to get his certificate. Next time, said Mr. McMillow in a low voice, please don't hand me a ukulele with a mouse in it. Jacob just smiled and held up his certificate proudly. After all the classes had their certificates, it was time for the song. And of course, Edsie was doing the song on the ukulele that day. And this is the song he sang for everybody. It was a day we called Fryberry. A mouse ran around in the library. Get Mr. Label caught a teacher on the table. And that was what happened on Fryberry. Kickery dickory tock. A mouse hid behind a sock. Then it ran all around. It was named Mr Brown. Kickery dickory tock. There's a teacher at our school who always seems to break the rules, Mr. Big Malo. Oh no. Come along and join in two with the things we play and do. Telling on the teacher. Thanks for joining us for the story today. This story was inspired when I was teaching ukulele in a library, a school library, and there was a real mouse that scampered into the library and was running around. We had to use a paper recycling box to try and catch this little mouse and take him outside, which we did actually manage to do. Thanks for joining us. And next time we've got a story about some pool noodles and how Mr. McMahlow gets himself into a pool noodle fight. Join us again then. Bye.