(FLEX) Friendship, Laughter and Feelings with Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad

Arnold Lobel's literary gift and creation of the classic characters Frog and Toad are timeless. Through their short story adventures, we learn the value of having a friend to lean on -- one who supports (and strengthens) daily struggles, helps us find humor in surprising places and has our best interests at heart.

Throughout this flex course, learners will be guided to read two specifically assigned short stories a week (it may or may not be obvious from the beginning why each week's stories have been put together). During the course of each week, a consistent schedule will be in place to nurture a steady, anticipated course pace -- however, each week's written projects, art pieces and interactive scavenger hunts will be a creative variety of assignments!

READING SCHEDULE:

(Short story reading assignments are pulled from the following four Arnold Lobel titles: Frog and Toad Are Friends, Frog and Toad Together, Frog and Toad All Year, Days with Frog and Toad. These titles are widely accessible and you are free to choose to lend or purchase these four books for the course.)

Week 1: The Story/ The Surprise
Week 2: Cookies/ Tomorrow
Week 3: A List/ A Swim
Week 4: The Kite/ A Lost Button
Week 5: Shivers/ Alone

CLASS STRUCTURE:

-- SUNDAY: A video introduction and lesson of the week's short stories, thematic hints and discussion/ visual of the writing and artistic pieces due by Saturday. This will also include a nod to the week’s Story Scavenger Hunt (a learner to learner activity). (Note: In the first week, there will be a separate and specific video instruction to model and describe said Story Scavenger Hunt)

-- TUESDAY: Story Scavenger Hunt will be posted every Tuesday, consisting of give and take teamwork of learner to learner. Students will be paired up with different partners each week, each tasked with finding (and posting) half of the week’s scavenger hunt list, which will consistently be a list of eight; thus, four hunts for each partner. This will be in the form of an open thread (one for each pairing) posted in the Classroom.

-- WEDNESDAY: Each learner will be tasked to post their one Story Scavenger Hunt video by close of day Wednesday. 

(OPTIONAL: Each learner is welcome to respond thoughtfully to their partner's video at any time through the duration of the week. This can be done by responding via one video clip OR one typed response —however they feel most comfortable/ successful!) I will also follow the same expectation, responding thoughtfully to each Story Scavenger Hunt video.

-- THURSDAY: Writing piece due, in the form of an uploaded image. Examples of written creations will include poetry, compare/ contrast activity prompts, character persuasions, etc. 

-- SATURDAY: Artistic piece due, in the form or an uploaded image OR video clip! Examples of artistic creations will include watercolor illustrations, small dioramas, sketches, dough/ clay work, etc.

*****Any teacher-made printable work in relation to a writing/ artistic piece will be accessible at the beginning of that given week*****

STORY SCAVENGER HUNT EXAMPLES:

As stated above, each week's Story Scavenger Hunt will have a list of eight tasks (four for each partner pairing). These Scavenger Hunts will sometimes be physical objects, such as in Week 4, as the Hunt's theme goes hand-in-hand with the particular stories of the week. Some weeks, however, the Story Scavenger Hunt will be actions or feelings, such as: 'Frog was incredibly patient when Toad was frustrated over his lost list. Find someone in your life that exhibits patience for you or others'. A learner could 'show' this finding in their Story Scavenger Hunt video clip simply by sharing a description of the person they chose and why. Alternately, learners can take notes while they are 'on' their Story Scavenger Hunt, and be reading from their list in their shared video clip. I anticipate each learner's Story Scavenger Hunt video to not be more than two minutes; it's important to me that each feels comfortable while also successfully sharing their findings in order to make a connection/ provide an environment for the option of thoughtful feedback from their Scavenger Hunt partner!

(OPTIONAL) STORY SCAVENGER HUNT PARTNER RESPONSES:

A thoughtful response, as mentioned above, will look/ sound/ feel like a conversation between friends. For example, if Partner A shares that Frog-like patient person in his/ her life, a Partner B response would look to make a connection:

i.e. 'Your aunt really does sound patient like Frog, especially when you said she always helps you with your math homework. That reminds me of my teacher, who never rushes me when it's my turn to read.'

Similarly, I anticipate each learner's optional response to their partner be no more than a minute or so via video clip OR small paragraph via a typed response.

ASSESSMENT: 

I will provide detailed, encouraging and thought supporting feedback to each weekly piece; I have built this course with the intentions of reading with purpose, nurturing connections to characters and the environment to express our knowledge in different ways!

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE: This course is most successful for those that are currently strengthening their 'learning to read independently' and reading on their own.