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Copywork
About This Passage
Selected for the exact moment Toad's mind turns. Notice how Lobel changes the rhythm: two short narrative sentences set up the action, then Toad's first sentence reaches forward in time instead of pushing work into tomorrow. The structure "if... then... will I?" is what the inside of someone's mind sounds like when they discover the way out of their own trap.
Toad picked up his clothes. He put them in the closet. "Frog," said Toad, "if I wash my dishes right now, then I will not have to wash them tomorrow, will I?"
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
In your own words, tell the story of this chapter. What were the most important moments? What made them important — and how do you know?
Discussion Questions
- Lobel begins the story with one word: "Drat!" Before Frog has spoken, before any action has happened, we already know something about Toad. What does the single sound do that a longer description would not have done? Why begin a story this way?
- Frog never picks up Toad's clothes. Frog never washes a single dish. Instead, Frog asks soft questions like "Why?" and offers a strange agreement — "Yes, tomorrow will be a very hard day for you." What is Frog actually doing as a friend in this story, and is that harder or easier than just doing the chores himself?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A short interjection used to express mild irritation when something does not go as planned; the first word out of Toad's mouth before the story is one sentence old.
Item 2
A state of low spirits or gloom, used in the figurative phrase "down in the ___" to describe someone weighed down by sadness or worry.
Item 3
A state of disorder in which things are scattered, untidy, or out of place; the condition of Toad's house when the story begins.
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Critical Thinking
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