Frindle
Grades 4-7; Genre - Fiction; GRL R; AR pts: 2.0
Nick is in the fifth grade and comes up with a new word. This begins a battle with his language arts teacher as he tries to get everyone in his school to say it.
Comprehension Questions
Chapter 1
- Describe Nick. In fifth grade; 10 years old; imaginative; mischievous; disrupts class; his friend is Janet p. 1
- What is the author providing about Nick in this first chapter? background to Nick and his personality p. 4
- How often did Nick and Janet peep like blackbirds in the classroom? At least once a week p. 5
Chapter 2
- Why did Mrs. Granger's eyes make her look giant? they were not in proportion to the rest of her p. 7
- Describe a dictionary? a book or electronic resource that lists the words of a language and gives their meaning p. 8
- This book was written in 1996. Compare how the students in this story looked up a word in the dictionary and how you look up a word in the dictionary now. This book came out before the internet, so students had physical dictionaries in their classrooms and had to learn how to look up words alphabetically; listen to your child how they look up words to learn their meanings now
Chapter 3
- Why did Nick ask teachers a question right before the bell rang and class got out? To stop the teachers from giving the students homework p. 14
- Do you agree with this tactic? Listen to your child's answer
- What did Mrs. Granger say to Nick’s question? She gave him homework/ he needed to write an oral report on dictionaries p. 15
- How did Nick feel after his plan didn’t work? Very small p. 16
Chapter 4
- When was Nick supposed to do his homework? Right when he got home from school p. 18
- When Nick couldn’t understand the first sentence in the dictionary, what did Nick compare it to reading? The ingredients on a shampoo bottle p. 20
- Have you ever had a report you didn't fully understand and thought was boring? Explain. Listen to your child's answer p. 21
Chapter 5
- What was the title of Nick’s oral report? The Dictionary p. 24
- How much time was left in class when Mrs. Granger stopped Nick from giving his report? 10 min p. 28
- Why doesn't Nick want to be a teacher’s pet? it will ruin his reputation p. 29
Chapter 6
- Why did Nick rename the word "pen" for "frindle"? as a challenge for his teacher who said that people create word meanings p. 35
- Why did Nick send students to the Penny Pantry? to influence those students into calling a pen a frindle instead p. 38
- Do you think it will work? Listen to your child's answer
Chapter 7
- Why did Nick wait until his Language Arts class to introduce his idea of changing the word "pen" to "frindle"? to challenge Mrs. Granger and test her p. 38
- Why did Mrs. Granger call Nick up to speak with her? she didn’t like how he disrupted her class p. 40
- If you were Mrs. Granger, would you correct Nick, or let him call a pen a frindle? Explain. Listen to your child's answer p.41
Chapter 8
- What figurative language did Nick use to compare his meeting to when he met with Mrs. Granger after school? metaphor: a conference during a war p. 44
- When would Nick get the letter in the envelope Mrs. Granger had prepared for him? When the frindle thing is all over p. 45
- Why did the principal visit Nick at his home? the principal is concerned and wants to discuss the disruption caused by the widespread use of "frindle" being used during school p. 48
Chapter 9
- Why did Mrs. Chatham feel like Nick had been disrespectful to Mrs. Granger? Mrs. Granger had asked the students to stop saying the word and Nick had encouraged it p. 51
- How did Nick’s mom react to what was going on at school? annoyed/ didn’t think it was a big deal that Nick had changed pen to frindle p. 52
- Do you agree or disagree with his mom? Explain. Listen to your child's answer
- What game was Nick comparing the war going on between him and Mrs. Granger to? Chess p.56
Chapter 10
- Why did Judy Morgan, the newspaper reporter, come to the school? to get the story about Nick and frindle p. 58
- Why was the principal nervous when Judy Morgan was asking her questions about what was going on at the school? the situation had turned from a small prank to a defiance of school authority p. 60
- If you were in this situation, what would you say to Judy Morgan? Listen to your child's answer
Chapter 11
- Why would the title of the article in the newspaper have, “Move over, Mr. Webster”? Webster is a popular dictionary p. 67
Chapter 12
- Being a hero was exciting for Nick, but what were some of the hard things about it? Always needing to be funny and clever, always being watched p. 70
- How did Tom, Nick’s father, feel about the frindle story? He thought there was too much fuss about it, but he was secretly proud of his son p. 81
- What did Nick’s father do with the money Bud Lawrence gave him? put it in the bank for Nick’s college fund p. 83
Chapter 13
- In the towns across America where kids started using the word frindle, how did parents and teachers feel about it? they tried to stop it p. 85
- Even though Mrs. Granger didn’t keep students after school anymore, how did she fight the word on her spelling tests? Every week she’d put pen as the first word p. 87
- Do you think this was a good solution to get students to stop using it? Listen to your child's answer
Chapter 14
- How had Nick changed from the frindle experience? He became more careful with his ideas p. 89
- In what way did Nick and Mrs. Granger's relationship change during this story? from enemies to respecting each other p.91
- How did Mrs. Granger feel about the way Nick had behaved with the frindle? Proud of him p. 92
Chapter 15
- What was the package Mrs. Granger sent Nick? A dictionary with the word frindle in it, his letter, her old pen with a little paper that said frindle p. 101
- What did Nick do for Mrs. Granger? Set up a scholarship fund in her name and gave her a gold pen with writing on it p. 105
- What did you like about this story? Listen to your child's answer