Dave fakes a coughing fit to escape giving his oral report on India.

Dave reads about Gandhi's weekly day of silence and decides to stay quiet for a whole school day.

Dave yells at Lynsey during lunch, breaking his personal vow of silence.

Dave proposes a no-talking contest between the fifth-grade boys and girls, with a three-word answer rule.

Dave and Lynsey shake hands to officially seal the terms of the contest.

The fifth-grade lunch period begins in complete silence, stunning Principal Hiatt.

A boy yells at a friend during lunch, earning the first violation point against the boys.

Mrs. Hiatt meets with the teachers and decides to call an assembly to end the game.

Mrs. Hiatt calls an assembly and announces that the no-talking contest is officially canceled.

Dave and Lynsey silently arrange a truce and lead all the students in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mrs. Hiatt confronts Dave at lunch and orders him to speak in full sentences to his friend.

Dave shouts that students have the right to remain silent, and the entire fifth grade folds their arms.

Dave is sent to the principal's office and sincerely apologizes to Mrs. Hiatt.

Mrs. Hiatt apologizes to Dave in return and agrees to join the three-word game.

Lynsey's closing speech forces a tie, and she and Dave sit smiling at each other without saying a word.

Dave Packer's inspiration from Gandhi leads him to attempt a day of silence, which collapses when he explodes at Lynsey Burgess for talking too much at lunch. That argument becomes a formal contest between the fifth-grade boys and girls, with strict rules and a handshake to make it official. The game shocks the school staff, and Principal Hiatt calls an assembly to shut it down — but the students carry on regardless. The conflict reaches a peak when Mrs. Hiatt confronts Dave at lunch and he publicly defies her, earning a trip to the principal's office and threatening the boys' chances of winning. In a surprising turn, Dave and Mrs. Hiatt apologize to each other, and she agrees to join the game on the students' terms. The contest ends in a tie engineered by Lynsey, and the two rivals who started the whole thing share a silent smile instead of a victory.

The core story of the no-talking contest from spark to finish.

Dave and Lynsey are assigned an India project together but choose to research it completely separately.

Dave successfully stays silent through an entire school morning, communicating only through nods and smiles.

Lynsey plans a way to get even after Dave insults all girls for talking too much.

Lynsey proposes the contest last two full days and include behavior at home, scored on the honor system.

Dave rallies the fifth-grade boys at lunch to join the contest with only fifteen minutes to spare.

Mrs. Hiatt stands in the lunchroom with her bullhorn, bracing for the usual fifth-grade chaos.

Mrs. Marlow watches the silent playground during recess and decides to run an experiment in her afternoon class.

Kids fill recess with non-verbal noise — whistling songs, elaborate screaming, and practicing sign language.

Music teacher Mrs. Akers tries to lead the class in a song but gets back only three-word bits.

Gym teacher Mrs. Henley begins adopting the students' own hand signals to govern dodgeball.

Brian cannot defend himself verbally at the barber and ends up with an embarrassingly short haircut.

Students voluntarily confess their overnight violations on the honor system the morning after the first contest day.

Mrs. Escobar demands Lynsey speak normally in math class, but Dave defuses the confrontation by showing an alternate solution on the board.

Students deliver oral reports in social studies by taking turns speaking exactly three words at a time.

Mrs. Hiatt calls a second all-school assembly and extends the no-talking contest to every grade level.

Before the contest even begins, Dave and Lynsey are pushed together by a school project neither of them wants to share, setting up the friction that ignites their challenge. The rules take shape through careful negotiation, and both sides scramble to recruit their teammates before the noon start. Once the game is underway, teachers across every subject — music, gym, science, and social studies — must improvise to keep their classes running despite the strange new silence. Outside school, the contest follows the kids home and to after-school activities, producing small sacrifices like Brian's terrible haircut and larger ones like Lynsey's quiet bus ride home. The honor system governs overnight play, and the next morning students voluntarily confess their violations. The contest's final act includes a second assembly where Mrs. Hiatt surprises everyone by opening the game to the whole school.

The supporting moments that shaped and sustained the contest.

Dave realizes mid-outburst that he has broken his own personal vow of silence.

Lynsey asks whether contractions count as one or two words, and Dave is genuinely impressed by her thinking.

Mrs. Hiatt asks the fifth graders why they are so quiet and receives only the three-word reply 'Yes, Mrs. Hiatt.'

Mrs. Marlow intercepts a note between Dave and Lynsey and quietly figures out the full rules of the game.

Mr. Burton has the class build a story three words at a time, producing hilariously creative results.

Mr. Burton launches a writing exercise where students pass continuous written conversations around the room.

Dave writes to Lynsey that the contest is interesting, and she writes back that she finds it amazing too.

Mr. Burton decides to use the no-talking game as the subject of his master's degree research paper.

Lynsey reflects on the silent ride home that thinking without talking feels different and genuinely good.

Mrs. Overby realizes at the staff meeting that Dave's coughing fit was a deliberate trick to avoid speaking.

Mr. Burton argues at the teachers' meeting that the sudden silence of the Unshushables is a gift.

In science class, Kyle asks Mrs. Marlow whether 'normal' can change, and she relents and allows the three-word rule.

Dave finds Mrs. Hiatt crying at her window when he arrives at her office to apologize.

Dave explains to Mrs. Hiatt that reading about Gandhi and his practice of silence inspired the whole contest.

Lynsey gives an unplanned speech praising the boys' honesty, adding enough penalty points to tie the final score exactly.

The contest is born from a moment of self-awareness — Dave realizing mid-outburst that he has broken his own vow — and from Lynsey's sharp question about contractions, which gives both rivals an unexpected flicker of mutual respect. As the game unfolds, individual teachers decode its rules on their own, and some find the silence genuinely inspiring for their classrooms. The quieter atmosphere also changes the students themselves: Lynsey discovers during a silent bus ride home that thinking without talking feels different and good, while Dave and Lynsey's first genuine exchange — admitting in writing that the contest is amazing — signals the slow collapse of their gender rivalry. Adult characters also reach turning points: Mrs. Overby connects the coughing incident to the contest, Mr. Burton champions the game at the staff meeting, and Mrs. Hiatt's private tears in her office reveal a principal who knows she went too far. The story resolves when Dave explains Gandhi's influence to Mrs. Hiatt, and Lynsey chooses to sacrifice a win in order to end the contest with fairness and grace.