Arnold Lobel's "Frog and Toad" stories can be used to increase student vocabulary and spelling. Choose words from the stories that are unknown to your students, e.g., "cheer," "alone," "meadow," "reason" or "spoiled." Create a set of cards with the words and another set of cards with the definitions. Divide the students into groups and have them play a matching game, pairing each word with a definition. As an added challenge, have children spell the word after they find a pair. You can even use these words as your weekly spelling words. Have students underline the words as they come across them while re-reading the stories or when they see them elsewhere while reading.
Comparing and contrasting is a high level critical thinking skill that can be practiced with the Frog and Toad characters. For example, help your students use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the characters of Frog and Toad. Have them list physical attributes such as, "Frog is tall and green and Toad is short and brown." Also have them list attributes of the characters' personalities (e.g., "Frog is easygoing while Toad tends to be anxious and serious.") You may also wish to extend the unit and research real frogs and toads. Your students can then compare and contrast their habitats, physical characteristics and eating habits.
In the book "Frog and Toad are Friends," Frog writes a letter to Toad. Help your students practice their writing skills by having them write letters to their friends. They can practice the format of letter writing, decide what information is important to include and learn how to address envelopes. You may even wish to connect your students with pen pals from another area. Writing back and forth with friends motivates new writers and can encourage students to build their vocabularies as they search for new words to use when writing.
Integrating math and reading is a good way to motivate children who dislike math. Make lily pads out of construction paper and write a number or a math fact on each one. Divide the children into groups and give each group a stack of lily pads and a set of plastic frog counters. Have the children count out the correct number of frogs and place them on the lily pads to represent the number or the answer to the equation written on each pad. Have the students make counting books and give them color frog printouts to glue on each page of their books. Give each student a book made of construction paper tied together with yarn. Each book should have a cover and five pages. Have the children decorate the covers, and then write the numbers one through five in their books (one number on each page). Have them glue the correct number of frogs on each page.