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Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus · Garden Heights
Part 6
for Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus · Part 6 · Chapter 7
8 Parts40 min
What Happens in Part 6
Alone in the building, Junie B. explores. Thirsty from chalk dust, she argues with herself about the risk, then checks the hallway and drinks at the fountain with nobody telling her to hurry. She works her way to the Media Center, rearranges books into peeky holes to spy through, plays with the fish tank, and discovers an electric pencil sharpener she cannot resist — until a crayon jams it. Then real footsteps: the custodian passes with his trash can, singing, and never notices her.
What We Will Learn
Section
What you will practice
Vocabulary
Words for big feelings: signal, alert, panic, tremble, comfort, settle…
Literary Elements
Setting as a feeling, mood in an empty building, and showing fear instead of naming it
Cross-Curricular
Big feelings — what fear actually does to a body, and what helps it pass
Chapter Summary
Ch.
What happens
7
Peeky Holes and Spying — Chalk dust makes her thirsty, and she argues with herself about whether it is safe to be seen. She pulls a chair to the door, peeks through the window, sniffs for people, and drinks at the fountain with nobody hurrying her. Then she tiptoes to the Media Center and shifts books on the shelves to make peeky holes to spy through. She waves at the fish and stirs the tank with a pencil, then discovers an electric pencil sharpener and sharpens pencils smaller and smaller until a crayon jams it. Footsteps: the man with the trash can walks past singing, does not see her, and goes outside.
Part 1
Vocabulary
Study 10 key words from Chapter 7, then answer each question.
📚Knowledge Bank · Words for Big Feelings
Language · Feeling WordsFeeling words are hard to learn because you cannot point at one. English solves the problem by borrowing from the body. A signal is a message sent from one place to another, so we use it for the message a scared brain sends downward. To be alert is to be awake and listening hard, which is what ears do the second a strange noise arrives. On the other side sit the calming words. To comfort somebody is to make them feel better, and to settle is what a racing heart finally does. Notice that brave is not the opposite of afraid. Brave means going ahead while still feeling afraid.
explorev.Ch.7
To look around a new place to find out what is there
“Junie B. decides to explore every hallway in the empty school.”
signaln.Ch.7
A message that tells something to start or to happen
“A frightened brain sends a signal to the rest of the body.”
alertadj.Ch.7
Awake and watching or listening closely
“Her ears turn alert, waiting for the sound to come again.”
echon.Ch.7
A sound that bounces back to you in an empty space
“One footstep makes an echo in a hallway with nobody in it.”
panicn.Ch.7
A sudden fear that is very hard to control
“Panic makes a person forget the door she just walked through.”
tremblev.Ch.7
To shake a little without meaning to
“Her hands tremble when the singing starts again.”
urgentadj.Ch.7
Needing to be done right away
“A scared body treats every noise as urgent news.”
braveadj.Ch.7
Willing to do something even while you feel afraid
“Being brave does not mean the fear has gone away.”
comfortv.Ch.7
To help somebody feel better when they are upset
“A calm voice can comfort a child faster than any explanation.”
settlev.Ch.7
To grow calm and quiet again
“Slow breathing helps a racing heart settle.”
ⓘ 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 message that tells something to start or to happen is a ___.Ch.7
2Somebody who is alert is awake and listening closely.Ch.7
3To tremble is to ___.Ch.7
4A sound that bounces back to you in an empty space is an ___.Ch.7
5Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch.7
Word choices:exploresignalpanicurgent- some words will not be used
Junie B. sets out to the empty school.
A scared brain sends a to the whole body.
6To be brave means that you no longer feel any fear at all.Ch.7
7‘Panic’ is a sudden fear that is very hard to control.Ch.7
8To settle after a fright is to ___.Ch.7
9Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch.7
Word choices:comfortsettletremblealert- some words will not be used
A calm voice can a frightened child.
Slow breathing helps a racing heart .
10Something that needs to be done right away is ___.Ch.7
Part 2
Comprehension
Show you understood what happens in Chapter 7.
📋Knowledge Bank · What a Body Does When It Is Scared
Science · The Body & FeelingsFear is not only a thought. It is a set of orders. A small part of the brain notices something strange and fires an alarm before the thinking part has caught up, which is why a person can jump at a noise. The heart speeds up so blood reaches the legs. Breathing quickens to load that blood with oxygen. Eyes widen, ears sharpen, and the stomach goes tight because digesting has been paused as less urgent. Every one of these changes has a job, and every one of them fades once the brain decides the danger is over. Understanding the list helps, because a pounding heart stops feeling like proof that something is wrong.
1What does Junie B. do once she has the school to herself?Ch.7
2What does Junie B. do to the books on the shelves?Ch.7
3Junie B. uses the pencil sharpener while she is exploring.Ch.7
4What does Junie B. hear that changes the mood of the chapter?Ch.7
5Write the numbers 1–5 in the boxes to show the correct order of events in Chapter 7. Number 1 = what happens first.Ch.7
She grinds a pencil down in the sharpener until it is tiny.
Her body goes tense as she works out what to do about the voice.
A man’s singing reaches her from somewhere in the building.
She decides the media center would make a very good fort.
Junie B. leaves Room Nine to look around the empty school.
6Junie B. is frightened of the school building from the moment she starts exploring.Ch.7
7Why is the singing so startling to Junie B.?Ch.7
8How does Junie B. feel during most of her exploring, before the singing?Ch.7
9By the end of Chapter 7, Junie B. has decided that hiding was a mistake.Ch.7
10What makes an empty school feel so different from a full one?Ch.7
Part 3
Literary Elements
Understanding HOW and WHY Barbara Park tells the story across Chapter 7.
🧠Knowledge Bank · Showing Fear Instead of Naming It
Literary Craft · Showing & TellingA weak writer types the words “she was scared” and moves on. A strong writer gives the fear a body. Barbara Park uses setting to do it here: an ordinary school turns strange the moment it empties, and every small sound grows because nothing is left to cover it. That feeling in the air is the chapter’s mood, and Park builds it out of hallways and echoes rather than adjectives. Then she lets a body do the reporting — a stomach that tightens, a breath that stops, feet that will not move. Readers do not have to be told what those signs mean, because every reader has felt them, which is why showing beats telling.
Setting
The same building becomes a new place when everybody leaves it. An empty school is the real setting of this chapter, and it does half the work.
Mood
Quiet halls and bouncing sounds create the feeling a reader carries through the chapter — first delight, then something colder.
Showing instead of telling
The author does not announce that Junie B. is scared. A held breath and a body gone stiff say it for her.
1The empty school building in this chapter is best called the story’s ___.Ch.7
2Fill in each blank with the correct literary term.Ch.7
Word choices:settingmoodrhymeindex- some words will not be used
The empty school is the of this chapter.
Quiet halls and echoes create the .
3Describing a tight stomach instead of writing “she was afraid” is an example of ___.Ch.7
4The setting of a story means only the year in which it takes place.Ch.7
5Why does the author let Junie B. enjoy exploring before the singing starts?Ch.7
6The feeling a chapter creates in a reader is called its ___.Ch.7
7A sound can change the mood of a scene without anything else changing.Ch.7
8Fill in each blank with the correct literary term.Ch.7
Word choices:showingtellingchapterpoem- some words will not be used
Letting a tight stomach speak for fear is .
Writing the words “she was afraid” is .
9Junie B. announces to the reader that she has become frightened.Ch.7
10Chapter 7 mainly works to ___.Ch.7
Part 4
Think Deeper
Four deeper challenges — no single-word recall. Read, weigh the evidence, and reason it out.
💡Knowledge Bank · What Actually Helps a Scared Person
Health · Calming SkillsTelling a frightened person to relax almost never works, because fear is running in the body, not in the argument. What does work is slower and stranger. Long, slow breathing out sends the body a message that the danger has passed, and the heart follows within a minute or two. Naming the feeling out loud helps as well, since putting a word on it hands the job back to the thinking part of the brain. Best of all is another person: a calm adult nearby lowers a child’s alarm faster than anything the child can do alone. That last one is worth remembering, because the hardest part of being scared is usually being alone.
Think back over this chapter. A whole school building belongs to one five-year-old, and she takes full advantage of it: halls with nobody in them, a media center that looks like a fort waiting to be claimed, a pencil sharpened down to almost nothing just because the machine is there. It is the best afternoon of her life, right up to the moment a sound arrives that she did not make. Somewhere in the building a man is singing. Nothing else in the school has changed — same halls, same shelves, same girl — and yet everything is different, because she is not alone after all.
Original passage written for Garden Heights — not a quotation from the novel.
1Claim: “Chapter 7 shows Junie B.’s feelings changing from delight into fear.” — choose the two details that best prove it.Claim & Evidence
2Helps a scared body calm down, or Makes a scared body worse? Tap each detail to send it left or right.Sort into two
◄ Helps a scared body calm downMakes a scared body worse ►
3Match each cause to its result. For each cause, pick its result.Cause & Effect
A brain notices a sound that should not be there→
The heart begins beating faster→
The body pauses the slow work of digesting→
The brain decides that the danger has passed→
4Fill both blanks to complete the reasoning.Build the Argument
Barbara Park lets Junie B. enjoy the empty school before the singing starts because , which shows that .
Part 5
Standardized Test
Reading passage · What Scared Feels Like · 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
TOEFLVocabulary — the meaning of a tested word as this passage uses it
TOEFLProse Summary — choosing the three sentences that capture the main ideas
SATInference — a conclusion the passage supports without ever stating it outright
How Fear Moves Through the Body
Fear is not only a feeling inside your head. It is a set of fast orders that your body obeys before you have time to think about them. Your brain notices something strange, such as a dark hallway or a sound with no name. It sends a signal that speeds up your heart, so blood can reach your legs. You breathe faster and your eyes open wider. Your ears turn alert, hunting for the noise again. Your stomach may feel tight, because the body has paused slower work such as digesting. None of this means a person is weak. It means the body is getting ready to run, to freeze, or to shout for help. Slow breathing, naming the fear out loud, and finding a trusted adult all help a frightened body settle.
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, why does the heart speed up?TOEFL · Factual Information
3In the passage, a signal is ___.SAT · Words in Context
4According to the passage, why might a frightened stomach feel tight?TOEFL · Factual Information
5In the passage, alert means ___.TOEFL · Vocabulary
6According to the passage, when does the frightened feeling fade?TOEFL · Factual Information
7In the passage, settle means to ___.SAT · Words in Context
8Prose Summary (TOEFL).The passage explains what fear does inside a body and what helps the feeling pass. This TOEFL task lists six sentences; choose the THREE that best capture the passage’s main ideas. The other three do not belong — they state minor details or ideas the passage does not present.TOEFL · Prose Summary
9The passage suggests that a pounding heart during a fright is ___.SAT · Inference
10Which moment in Chapter 7 does this passage best explain?SAT · Inference
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 6 “The Time My Body Got Scared First”
Fear starts in the body before it reaches your thoughts: a tight stomach, a loud heart, feet that will not move. Write about a time something startled you. What did your body do first, what did you find out afterward, and what helped you feel calm again? 6–10 sentences. End by telling what you would say to somebody feeling that way now.
You can start with: “The first thing that happened was not in my head at all. It was in my...”
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 6 Complete!
You finished Chapter 7 of Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus.
Here are your auto-graded results:
-
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.
