Today, an 8-year-old boy took a .380-caliber semiautomatic Llama pistol to school in his book bag and shot a third-grade classmate in the back.

Shy but determined, Tamira stood in her classroom, surrounded by visiting school superintendents from Pennsylvania, and described what she and her third-grade classmates were studying.

Although unrelated by blood, they shared a common Chinese surname, and as third-grade classmates, they shared the same double desk in their hometown, Changle, in the Fujian province of China.

The Dingles, the least funny part of the evening, are the parents of Sherri's third-grade classmate who beat her out for the penmanship medal, which is now mysteriously in Sherri's possession.

Cisco looks perfectly normal but buttons his collar at the top to conceal his tracheotomy scars from his third-grade classmates who tease him.

Wanika's third-grade classmates gathered around the table, offering words of encouragement as a blue gel was slathered over every part of her face except her nostrils.

This week, he said, the 8-year-old boy asked his third-grade classmates to keep Shavod Jones in their prayers.

Stan and Kyle aren't much better off, nor are their third-grade classmates who soon finagle their way in.

In a prologue, Mia first experiences ridicule at the hands of her third-grade classmates when she is called to the front of the room to do a math problem.

ONE morning, my third-grade classmate Clive didn't have his arithmetic homework ready.