Book Pairing: FROGS

Just like you might pair a fine wine with a gourmet meal, JOYcabulary pairs together read aloud books: usually a narrative text with an informational text, or sometimes two narrative texts around a similar topic. When we pair these together, comprehension is deepened as students make connections between the two books.


Today’s book pairing is all about FROGS. Rrribbet! Learn more about frogs and read an opinion piece about why you might not want to be one.

I Don't Want to Be a Frog by Dev Petty

Frog wants to be anything but a slimy, wet frog. A cat, perhaps. Or a rabbit. An owl? But when a hungry wolf arrives—a wolf who HATES eating frogs—our hero decides that being himself isn’t so bad after all. In this very silly story with a sly message, told in hilarious dialogue between a feisty young frog and his heard-it-all-before father, young readers will identify with little Frog’s desire to be something different, while laughing along at his stubborn yet endearing schemes to prove himself right.

The Life Cycle of a Frog by Bobbie Kalman

Frogs begin their lives as tiny tadpoles living in water. As adults, they live both on land and in the water. The Life Cycle of a Frog details the changes in a frog at the four stages: egg, tadpole, froglet, and adult. Illustrations, photographs, and easy-to-read text explain: - facts about how the frog breathes and eats at each stage - differences in the metamorphosis of frogs in southern and northern climates - dangers to frogs from pollution, pesticides, and destruction of habitat.

 
Linda

Linda Szakmary has five decades of experience working as a classroom teacher, a district curriculum writer, a district facilitator of K-5 writing, and as a county K-8 literacy coach. She now works for Sullivan and Orange-Ulster BOCES as a content specialist. A poetry advocate and a lover of words and children’s literature, she has been a presenter at several state-wide conferences on vocabulary and writing. Currently, she is working with the staff developers of Mossflower to study intermediate vocabulary instruction within a reading workshop. Linda lives in Stone Ridge, NY where she enjoys gardening, yoga, reading, and rooting for the Yankees. You can often find her on a beach searching for sea glass.

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Welcome to “Maycember”