Here's our Frog and Toad Unit!

Arnold Lobel's stories are perfect for the second half of first grade! Most children can read them (with some help!) and the stories of naivety and friendship appeal to them! Here's a list of Lobel stories we read:

Owl at Home
A Zoo for Mister Muster
Frog and Toad are Friends
Frog and Toad Together
Frog and Toad All Year
Days With Frog and Toad
Small Pig
Mouse Soup
Grasshopper on the Road

BOOKS - a poem by Arnold Lobel

Books to the ceiling
Books to the sky
My piles of books are a mile high!
How I love them!
How I need them!
I'll have a long beard
By the time I read them!

We begin this unit by reading "A Zoo for Mister Muster" which was Lobel's first book. We read some biographical information about him, and discover that he loved to write simple animal stories. Our first week of the unit is devoted to "Owl at Home." The children love his silliness and learn the word "naive" to describe his character. The story of "Tear-Water Tea" inspires us to retell the story in writing, color Owl in Lobel's style and to write what would make US cry enough to fill a kettle! After reading "Strange Bumps" we make a flip book where we write and illustrate Owl's problem (bumps in his bed!), Owl's solution (he sleeps in his chair), and then we come up with our own solutions. Most of us agree that the bumps wouldn't bother us!

A great deal of our unit is centered around the Frog and Toad stories, particularly "Frog and Toad are Friends" which works nicely with the Valentine theme of friendship. We discuss the differences in these two characters and chart them, and realize that despite their differences (or because of them) they are good friends. Of course, this naturally lends itself to a science tie-in, and we read a lot of non-fiction on the subject of amphibians, including:

Frogs and Toads
The Wide-Mouthed Frog
Frogs Swallow With their Eyes
Frogs, Toads and Tadpoles, Too (a Rookie Reader)
Toad! (Brown)
The Salamander Room
Poison Dart Frogs
Flashy, Fantastic Rain Forest Frogs (Patent)
Fantastic Frogs! (Robinson)

FRIENDSHIP by Risa Jordan

A friend is a person who wishes you well
And keeps all the secrets that you like to tell.
Friends share their toys and their storybooks too.
Friends can be older or younger than you.
Friends can be real or made up in your mind
But they're always thoughtful and always kind.
Friends can live nearby or very, very far
But your friends are your friends wherever you are!

FIVE LITTLE FROGS by Cynthia Cappetta

Five little frogs sitting by a lake
The first was scared away by a snake.
The next one decided to take a swim.
The third one followed him right in.
The fourth little frog took a great big leap
So the last little frog just went to sleep!

Together we develop a KWL chart, and begin to list facts about each amphibian. One fun project is to create a frog from half of a paper plate painted green, and a cutout body and details. In the center, we glue a list of frog facts that we have written. We do the same for toads, and then decorate a heart that is displayed between them, saying "Frog and Toad are Friends." Makes a nice Valentine bulletin board! We do a reader's theatre highlighting the differences and similarities of frogs and toads, and we wear frog and toad headbands to look the part! There are many science activities we do, including raising a Grow-A-Frog from either a tadpole or froglet. We name it and watch its growth. We create lily pad life cycles of the frog and throughout the month we keep a Frog and Toad Science Dictionary. In it, we write the definitions of words such as amphibians, metamorphosis, life cycle, tympanums and tubercles (you'll have to look those last two up!)

One of the major writing activities we do toward the end of the unit is to work on our own Frog and Toad Adventure story, either individually or in pairs. As always, we begin with a prewriting activity, where we write the setting and the plot for our story.

A favorite project during this unit is creating our first DIORAMA. Each child covers their shoebox with green construction paper -- they place their box on the paper, trace around to measure the sides, then cut it out and glue it to the box. They then create a background inside depicting a scene from Frog and Toad, their own Frog and Toad story or a factual amphibian scene. They can use paper cutouts, clay, markers and other materials, as well as accessories from home such as plastic animals, trees, etc. When they are completed, each child writes a report describing his/her diorama.

There are a number of math activities that tie into this unit as well. In the story "A Lost Button" Frog joins Toad on a search for the button, and they find lots of buttons before THE button! This lends itself into an attribute activity. We each bring in a button (or borrow from our teacher's collection!) and we write down three attributes about it. For example, "It is large. It is white. It has 4 holes." The buttons are then mixed up, and each child receives someone else's button description. The child must read the card and then locate this lost button! Another fun game is a version of the game of Nim. Each pair has a worksheet with a lily pad and a number of frogs drawn on it. They cover all of the frogs with a counter, bean or penny. Then they can remove either ONE or TWO frogs. Whoever is left with the last frog - the POISON DART frog - is the loser!

After reading "Small Pig" we play "Piggy Toss." Children take turns tossing piggy counters. Depending upon the way they land, points are earned. A piggy landing on its back may be one point, on all four legs, two ponts, on its nose, l0 points! Each child has several tosses, and then adds his/her score! This is a perennial favorite!

FIVE GREEN AND SPECKLED FROGS (a traditional song)

Five green and speckled frogs
Sat on a speckled log
Eating the most delicious bugs
YUM YUM!
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Now there are how many frogs? FOUR!

OTHER FROG BOOKS TO USE WITH THIS UNIT:

Jump, Frog, Jump!
Froggy Goes to School
Froggy Gets Dressed
The Mysterious Tadpole (Kellog)
Fish is Fish (Lionni)
The Frog Prince

Have any ideas to share? Let us know! etonn@worldnet.att.net

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