Small Moments Writing with Frog and Toad

MentorMondayButton1-20I’ve decided to link up with my teaching/blogging/TPT friend Emily for her new weekly linky about mentor texts. This week’s topic is about writing about the small moments. This is simply a perfect subject for me for this week because I’ve been planning on talking about “binoculars” in our co-op this week: making sure our topics are focused rather than large. Focuses on small moments rather than large ones is just what we need. The kids try to tell an entire huge story in one paragraph.

 

The book(s) I chose for this topic are the Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel. These books are full of small moment story telling! Many of the chapters could be an inspiring piece for focusing on something small.

In one story (“Cookies”), Frog and Toad try to stop themselves from eating all of the cookies. In another (“The Lost Button”), Toad lost his button and Frog tries to help him find it. (Of course, it turns up on the floor at home.) In “The Story,” Toad tries to think of a story to tell Frog, who is sick. Toad does all kinds of crazy tricks (like standing on his head) to think of a story.

These stories seem like a perfect way to emphasize to students that stories do not have to be huge adventures. Especially in a personal narrative, the small moments can be quite amusing and provide lots of details for a full story.

Do you ever use Frog and Toad stories for teaching in your lower elementary classes/homeschool?

I must admit, they were not the first that came to mind simply because we don’t often think of these early readers as “picture books.” I think there is a lot there to think about, however! What great stories!

Make sure you visit The Reading Tutor’s blog to see other teachers’ suggestion.

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  • I never thought to use Frog and Toad before! Great suggestion for young writers. Thanks for linking up!
    Emily, TRT/OG :))

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