Book Title: Frindle
Author(s): Andrew Clements
Illustrator/Photographer/Artist: Brian Selznick
Publisher: Alladin Paperbacks
Copyright Date: 1996
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Brief Annotation:
When the clever Nick Allen decides to turn his fifth grade teacher’s love of the dictionary around on her, Nick invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control.
Your Rating (1-5) and why:
4 – This is a great book to get students to really think about words and how they came to be – how one child, with a little planning, can change the way say or see ordinary things.
Readers who will like this book: Students who like clever kids their own age, that like a sense of adventure, twists and turns and a tinge of rebellion.
Teaching Strategy from Yopp & Yopp:
-Strategy Cards: p. 60
Lit circle of 4 children – each child has a specific role:
Summarizer, Questioner, Predictor, Connecter.
I especially like the Connector for this book because they will have the chance to think of any connections between Nick’s perspective on words to their own perspective. Have you ever wondered why a ‘fork’ was called a ‘fork’? And possibly let these discussions lead up to another assignment like the one below.
-Have the class come up with their own class dictionary where they introduce a new word (made up or not) each week.
Question to ask about this book before a read aloud:
Does anyone know what a Frindle is? (without showing the cover)
Start a discussion about how words and our past experiences help us take an educated guess on what the word might mean.
1. Interest Level (age): 4-6 grade
2. Grade Level Equivalent (grade): 4.8
Use book wizard to help with the previous 2 areas
3. List awards
Christopher Award, Georgia Children’s Book Award, Sasquatch Children’s Book Award, Zyakafoo Children’s Book Award, Rhode Island Children’s Book Award and the Young Hoosier Book Award
4. Does this book have a book trailer?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=IrW77UgHbBk
Wow, Jessy. I'm impressed with your initiative. You now have the honor of being named "First Blogger" :-)
ReplyDeleteIn terms of content, you have all the sections completed as expected--right down to the italicized book title. I'm glad the blog gives you a space to record the creative strategies you identified from Yopp & Yopp, as well as the thoughtful questions you developed to get kids thinking about language.
I can tell you have a natural eye for seeing a tight match between the content of a book and a suitable strategy for engaging kids with the ideas it presents. Did you have to write short book summaries when you worked at The Wild Rumpus? I know they have those little cards throughout the store with Staff Favorites noted. I'm just wondering if you have some practice writing up a concise synopsis of kids' books. If so, that's a great talent to bring to this class.
Thanks for your thoughtful post. I'll look forward to more throughout the term.