The Horned Toad Prince -TL

 

 

The Horned Toad Prince was written by Jackie Mims Hopkins and illustrated by Michael Austin. Published by Peachtree Publishers in 2000, this story is a retelling of the original "The Frog Prince." This is a good source of traditional literature because it still takes the basic concept of the original and make it more modern. It also incorporates a country feel to the story and its characters.

 

 

After reading this story aloud, use the information below for discussion, vocabulary, and essay ideas.

 

Common Core ELA Standards: RL.4.1, RL.4.2, RL.4.3, RL.4.4, RL 4.10; RF.4.3, RF.4.4; W.4.2, W.4.4, SL.4.1, SL.4.2, L.4.1, L.4.2, L.4.4, L.4.5



Text Dependent Questions

Text Dependent Questions	Answers
Page 94 How did Reba Jo entertain herself on the lonesome prairie?	She loved to twang her guitar, sing in the wind, and amuse herself by racing her horse, Flash.  Her favorite thing to do was to lasso cacti, water buckets, fence posts and critters. Reba Jo entertained herself by finding things that she found fun such as lassoing creatures that unfortunately crossed her path.
Page 94 Describe the setting and use details from the text in order to do so.	Teacher should ensure that students know that “arroyo” is a creek in addition to describing the setting.
Page 95 Why did Reba Jo know she should turn back but didn’t?	Her daddy had warned her that straying away from the arroyos could be dangerous due to flash floods.  She didn’t turn back however because she spied a vulture daring her to toss her lasso around his neck. She knew that water may wash her away because her father had warned her but she didn’t turn back because she wanted to rope the vulture.
Page 96 Commence means to begin or start.  In many schools, recess commences after lunch.  Why did Reba Jo commence to crying?	She commenced to crying because her new cowgirl hat blew off and fell to the bottom of the old well.
Page 97 Due to her crying, we know Reba Jo feels sad in some way about loosing her hat.  Based on the illustration on pg 97, how else does Reba feel about losing her hat?	We can tell that Reba is mad about losing her hat because it looks like she is kicking the dirt, and her face is all scrunched up making her look angry.
Page 97 What did Reba Jo mean when she said she thought the wind was “fooling” her ears?   How do you know that the wind blowing through the arroyo was not fooling Reba Jo’s ears?	She thought that she was hearing things.     It was not fooling her ears because there really was a voice asking her a question.  The voice was a horned toad.
Page 98 What deal did Reba Jo and the horned toad make?	Reba Jo would feed the horned toad chili, play the guitar for him and let him take a nap in her sombrero if he agreed not to tell her daddy that she lost her cowgirl hat in the well and get it out for her.
Page 99 Ask students to identify how Reba Jo reacted after the toad retrieved her hat. For example, the words muchas gracias means thank you. The author writes that ‘without so much as a thank you, Reba Jo snatched her hat from the horned toad and galloped home.’ The word snatched means to grab quickly and when a horse gallops it moves along quickly. Based on these definitions, how did Reba Jo react after the toad got her hat out of the well?	Reba Jo is ungrateful and rushes off without saying thank you or holding up her end of the bargain.
Page 100 What brought the horned toad to Reba Jo’s door?	He went to her door because she didn’t keep her end of the bargain. He went to her door because she didn’t even say thank you to him for retrieving her hat but ran away not keeping her end of the deal. He went to her door because she didn’t feed him chili, sing him a song on her guitar or let him take a nap in her sombrero.
Page 101 Reba Jo’s daddy said, “if you strike a bargain in these parts, a deal’s a deal”.  What impact do these words have on her?	After her daddy said this she shared her chili with the horned toad. She sang him a song with her guitar and let him sleep in her hat. Even though she didn’t want to, she kept her promise.  She kept her end of the bargain.
Page 102 Based on the text and illustration found on page 102, describe Reba Jo’s behavior as she plays her guitar for the toad.	Responses should include the words “stomped”, “grabbed”, and “belted”.  Responses should reference the meaning of these words and how they relate to Reba Jo’s behavior.
Page 105 One of the meanings of spell is something of magic that keeps a person or thing in a state of enchantment.  In Cinderella the Fairy Godmother casts a spell on a pumpkin and some mice turning them into a carriage and drivers to take Cinderella to the Ball, the big dance.  Many tales include magic such as spells.  What spell do we learn about here?	We learn that the horned toad had offended the great spirit of the riverbed and as a result the spirit cast a spell on him and made him a horned toad.  The only way to break the spell was to have a cowgirl kiss him.  The horned toad convinced Reba Jo to kiss him and when the spell was broken, he kept his end of the bargain and went away forever even though Reba Jo now thought he maybe should stay!
Page 105 What evidence supports the claim that the toad a plan all along?	The author says he looks at Reba Jo “slyly” before striking a deal with her, and he goes on to call him “clever” when he is reminding her that a deal is a deal right before he asks for the kiss.

	KEY WORDS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTANDING	WORDS WORTH KNOWING General teaching suggestions are provided in the Introduction
TEACHER PROVIDES DEFINITION not enough contextual clues provided in the text	Page 118 - lassoe, Prairie Page 119 - arroyo, blustery Page 122 - slyly Page 129 - offend	Page 118 - whistled (as in the wind whistled), pastime, critter Page 120 - whirl, scramble Page 127 - shriek Page 128 - amazement



·         Write one well-developed paragraph about how Reba Jo both breaks and eventually keeps up her end of the deal. Be sure to include why she broke and kept up her end of the deal. Be sure to use evidence from the text to support your ideas. Then, write a second paragraph that, again, uses examples from the text to show what the Horned Toad’s motives were for making a deal with Reba Jo. You must use at least 3 details or examples from the story in each of your paragraphs.

(All information above taken from www.pps.k12.or.us)