“Who
says dog means dog?”
Frindle
Written by Andrew ClementsPublished by Simon & Schuster Books for young Children 1996
Pen, Invention, Words, School, Popular
Awards:
Flicker Tale Children's Book Award (Won, 2001) Christopher Book Awards (Won, 1997)
California Young Reader Medal (Nominated, 2000)
Maud Hart Lovelace Award (Won, 1999)
Sunshine State Young Reader's Book Award (Nominated, 1999)
Iowa Children's Choice Award (Nominated, 2000)
Young Hoosier Book Award (Won, 1999)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Won, 2000)
Virginia Reader's Choice Awards (Nominated, 1999)
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (Won, 1999)
North Carolina Children's Book Award (Won, 1999)
Nevada Young Reader's Award (Won, 1999)
Massachusetts Children's Book Award (Won, 1999)
Young Reader's Choice Award (Won, 1999)
Georgia Children's Book Award (Won, 1999)
Nutmeg Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2000)
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (Nominated, 1998)
Great Lakes' Great Books Award (Nominated, 2001)
Prairie Pasque Award (Won, 1999)
William Allen White Children's Book Award (Won, 1999)
Bluebonnet Award (Nominated, 1999)
Great Stone Face Children's Book Award (Won, 1998)
Sasquatch Reading Award (Won, 1999)
Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award (Won, 1999)
West Virginia Children's Book Award (Nominated, 1999)
Beehive Children's Fictional Book Award (Won, 2000)
Nene Award (Nominated, 2001)
Rhode Island Children's Book Award (Won, 1998)
Summary:
Clements’novel challenges the language we use every day. This thought provoking novel is based on Nick Allen’s interest in the words we use to describe things, specifically a pen. Nick fashions a new name for a pen, frindle. The term is on fire! Everyone in the school has what they call “frindles”and soon it grows into a countrywide phenomenon!
Reading Level: Lexile Measure: 830L
Suggested Delivery: Independent reading
Teaching Strategies:
a) This is the first book in a series of six. The other novels feature different characters and dilemmas, but offer a similar school related story. Encourage your students to read the rest of the series. Make them available in your classroom library! 
b)
Play the game “telephone” with the whole class.
To play, students stand in a circle, the teacher whispers a sentence
that has been written down into a student’s ear. The sentence is passed around the circle. The last student writes what they heard and
compares the surprising results to the original sentence.
c)
Briefly explore simple etymology of language.
Provide students with a brief background on how the English language was
formed.
Comprehension Strategies:
Pre-Reading:
Look at the front cover of the novel, examine at the full page illustrations, along with their captions. What story do they tell? What do you predict these factors signify the novel will be about?
During
reading:
Assign
each student a chapter of the novel.
Once they have read that chapter, ask them to write CliffNotes to
accompany the chapter. They must be
ready by the next class because this student will be the leader of discussion,
with other students relying on them (promotes a sense of importance).
Post
Reading:
On
an exit slip, reflect on your prediction, were you right? Look back at the pictures and front cover,
were there any clues you can see now after you have read?
Writing
Activity:
Ask students to write on a postcard to a
hypothetical friend in Antarctica who has never used a pen before, it is their responsibility
to describe exactly what a frindle is, making use of descriptive language. Electronic Resources
Common Latin and Greek suffixes can be found at this website. This will not only expand students' vocabulary, but will result in greater comprehension.
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/40406/
You can look up any words in the etemology dictionary, found at:
http://www.etymonline.com/
Clements, A., & Selznick, B. (1996). Frindle. New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
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