Kissing Frogs
- Students completing the task online can access this PDF via a link. However, you may decide to have printed copies available for some students.
- This task can be done individually or in groups.
- For task a), it may be necessary to discuss first with students what "unkind" means, e.g., not kind, not nice, mean.
- For tasks b) and c), tell students that to explain their response of Yes/ No/ Yes and No, they must support their thinking by using evidence from the text and from their prior knowledge, i.e., things that have happened to them, things they have seen, heard, or read about.
- Responses can be discussed by teacher and student only, or within larger groups.
- use comprehension strategies
- reflect critically about character
as described in the Literacy Learning Progressions for Reading at: http://www.literacyprogressions.tki.org.nz/The-Structure-of-the-Progressions.
For task a) we have listed evidence that shows us Sam, Abby, and Rebecca are unkind. We have not listed evidence that tells us they are unkind since that type of evidence is relatively easy to identify. (NOTE: not all texts have evidence that "tells" about a character.) The evidence we have listed relates to what they all look like (appearance), what they say (dialogue), and what they do (action).
a) How do you know Sam, Abby, and Rebecca are unkind?
- The way the girl in the purple T shirt is drawn: she has a down-turned mouth. She looks surly - bad-tempered and unfriendly.
- The way the girl in the purple T shirt is drawn: she has a slight smirk on her face, and her hand is on her hip. Both make her look superior, as if she has a very high opinion of herself and a very low opinion of Petronella.
- The way the girl in the blue top is drawn: she also has a slight smirk on her face which, again, suggests she thinks she is superior to/ better than Petronella.
Dialogue (what the girls say)Page 13:
- Rebecca says "She's not very pretty...Her eyes are too big".
- Sam says "And she's dressed funny".
- Rebecca says "A princess!" (The exclamation mark shows she is very surprised and amused by what Petronella has said.)
- The girls twice ask each other "What did she say?" (This may suggest they aren't listening carefully because they think what Petronalla has to say isn't worth listening to; it may also suggest they find what they have heard, hard to believe.)
- The way one of the girls says "If we kissed a frog". (By emphasising "we", this girl is suggesting that kissing a frog is beneath her and her friends/ something they would never do.)
- Rebecca says "What did she say?" (Again, this may suggest she isn't listening carefully because she thinks what Petronalla has to say isn't worth listening to; it may also suggest she finds what she has heard, hard to believe.)
- The girls question the credibility or believability of Petronella's story: "Become a princess?" and "By kissing a frog?" (In doing this they are suggesting Petronella's idea is ridiculous/ they are ridiculing or making fun of her.)
- One of the girls responds with "Gross" to Petronella's suggestion that they kiss a frog. (This is unkind towards Petronella because she has kissed a frog.)
- Sam says "What did she say?" (Again, this may suggest she isn't listening carefully because she thinks what Petronalla has to say isn't worth listening to; it may also suggest she finds what she has heard, hard to believe.)
- One of the girls says "No way!" when Petronella says they can kiss the frog. (Again, this is unkind towards Petronella because she has kissed a frog. It is also unkind towards the frog.)
- Abby says "Not if we have to kiss that ugly frog". (Again, this is unkind towards Petronella because she has kissed a frog. It is also unkind towards the frog.)
- One of the other girls says "Come on, let's get out of here!" (This is unkind towards Petronella because they seem to think the whole situation is weird.)
- When Petronella says "I didn't enjoy being a princess". (She probably didn't enjoy being a princess because the girls were unkind to her).
Action (what the girls do)Page 13:
- When Petronella says "I didn't enjoy being a princess". (She probably didn't enjoy being a princess because the girls were unkind to her).
- When the girls talk together they exclude Petronella by keeping a physical distance between them and her (see illustration).
- The girls don't respond to Petronella's questions.
- Sam, Abby, and Rebecca hurried away... (Again, this is unkind towards Petronella because by leaving her alone on the field, this suggests they think the whole situation is weird.)Page 18:
- Because the girls had been unkind to her, Petronella kissed the frog so she would turn back into one.
This resource was trialled by 40 students. The trial involved Year 3 and 4 students from 4 schools.
Task a): How do you know Sam, Abby, and Rebecca are unkind?
Appearance
No trial students noted appearance as evidence of the girls being unkind.
According to Burroway and Stuckey-French (2007: 81-82), "our eyes are our most highly developed means of perception...it is appearance that prompts our first reaction to people". A character's appearance, their clothing, features, shape, style, the way they hold themselves and objects associated with them such as the car they drive or the house they live in, make statements about who the character is, what kind of person they are, their character, the "inner" person.
Dialogue
The majority of trial students noted the girls' dialogue as evidence of them being unkind.
The evidence trial students most often gave for the girls being unkind was their opening dialogue when Rebecca says "She's not very pretty...Her eyes are too big", and Sam follows this with "And she's dressed funny". Some students summarised this dialogue by saying that the girls were mean/ said mean things to Petronella. Other dialogue students readily recognised was dialogue that had the words "ugly" and "gross" in it. Students overlooked the repeated line "What did she say?" This isn't surprising since the meaning and purpose of this line is somewhat unclear. It may suggest the girls aren't listening carefully to Petronalla because they think that what she has to say isn't worth listening to; it may also suggest the girls find what they have heard, hard to believe.
In general, when dialogue contained vocabulary that is easily recognised as name-calling or put-downs, it was noted by students. It can also be said that, in general, students overlooked dialogue where more complex inference is required such as "Become a princess?" and "By kissing a frog?" This is complex because the reader needs to understand that the speaker is not asking a question because she doesn't know the answer. In this case the speaker asks a rhetorical question (one she knows the answer to) as a means of showing that she seriously doubts you can become a princess by kissing a frog.
By using dialogue, a writer can simultaneously suggest image, personality, and emotion, enriching the readers' understandings while conveying them economically through to the core of the narrative. In giving the girls a strong opening dialogue, the writer quickly and efficiently gives evidence of the girls not being nice people, setting the scene for what is to follow.
NOTE: There is no right or wrong answer for this task. This task requires readers to make a judgement of a character and justify their response, drawing on both the text and their prior knowledge. What is important is the quality of the justifications they give for their stance.Ability to use both text details and background knowledge when making a judgement about a character
A small group were able to use both. The judgements made by this small group were based both on background knowledge and on details from the text. For example:
- I know about being teased at school. Petronella was and she and didn't have any friends - only the frog. So she wanted to be a frog again because no humans liked her and I think she would have a better life as a frog, and she did. (Yes, justified.)
- She was only a human for a few minutes, and you have to give something new a better chance than that. (No, not justified.)
- There would be other kids at school, not just Sam, Abby and Rebecca. She could make some other friends who would stand up for her against these girls. (No, not justified.)
- Even though Sam, Abby, and Rebecca were nasty and horrible, she still needs to learn about girls like that. You can't avoid people like that for ever. (No, not justified.)
The judgements made by a large group were primarily based on background knowledge. For example:
- Yes because she could hop into a little place where the girls can not get her. (Yes, justified.)
- I don't think she made a good choice because I don't like frogs. (No, not justified.)
- Yes because she and the frog lived happily ever after and no because she might get tired of staying like a frog for ever.
Some students failed to give reasons for both parts of their 'Yes and No' response:
- Petronella just wants some friends (Yes, she was right).
- Everyone was being mean to her (Yes, she was right).
Task c): Do you like Petronella?
NOTE: There is no right or wrong answer for this task. This task requires readers to evaluate a character and justify their response using both the text and prior knowledge. What is important is the quality of the justifications they give for their stance.The techniques used by authors to make readers like or dislike (or at least understand / not understand) a character
Most students noted evidence that related to at least one of these techniques.Writers reveal their characters to readers through what characters look like (appearance), what they say (dialogue), through what they do (action), and what they think (thought).In Kissing Frogs readers come to like Petronella, or at least understand her, through what she looks like, says, does, and thinks. They may also come to dislike her, or at least not understand her feelings, through what she looks like, says, does, and thinks.
Appearance - A small group noted evidence of what Petronella looked like when they gave reasons for liking or disliking her. Note that authors do not usually intend readers to base their opinion of a character on the character's physical attractiveness. The only genre where physical attractiveness and worth as a human are very strongly linked is the fairytale; in fairytales, beauty is often equated with good, and ugliness, with evil. Kissing Frogs includes elements of that genre, and this may have influenced some students to dislike Petronella because of her looks.
Evidence relating to Petronella's physical attractiveness includes:
- She's got bulging, pop-out eyes.
Dialogue - No students quoted Petronella but a small group probably based their reasons for liking or disliking her on what she said.
Evidence relating to Petronella's dialogue that reveals her generosity in wanting to give the girls the opportunity to become princesses includes:
- Because she is really nice trying to make the mean people become a princess and she wasn't going to be mean back. (Based on "You could be princesses as well", page 14 and "I thought they would want to be princesses, but they didn't", page 18.)
Evidence relating to Petronella being honest to a fault includes:
- You don't ever tell someone that someone else said they were ugly. (Based on "She said you're ugly", page 17.)
Action - A small group noted evidence of what Petronella did when they gave reasons for liking or disliking her.Evidence relating to Petronella's kindness includes:
- Only a very nice princess wouldn't mind kissing a frog.
Evidence relating to Petronella's persistence includes:
- She took them across the field even when they weren't that interested because she thought that in the end they'd believe her.
Ability to use text details when making a judgement about a character
Only a small group were able to use text details. Most made rather general statements.One student noted:
- She is really kind, helpful and extremely truthful.
This student is certainly able to form an opinion about Petronella as a character but has not explicitly based that opinion on detailed evidence. For example, they could have noted Petronella's dialogue "I wasn't lying" or "I didn't really enjoy being a princess" as evidence of her truthfulness.Students who neglect to use specific details from the text cannot be said to have the necessary skills to evaluate a character. Responses such as the one above beg the question, "Why?"
Suspending disbelief
A small group of students were not able to accept the illusion created by fiction as "real". These students made responses such as:
- It is a made-up story so why is it important [that I like or dislike her]?
- She [Petronella] is not real but she made a good choice.
- She kissed a frog. How stupid is that?
Writers of fictional narrative create illusion. They attempt to reproduce the emotional impact of everyday life for the reader so that powerful feelings such as love, fear, embarrassment, frustration, loathing, despair, and excitement can be experienced without the reader having to risk what Burroway and Stuckey-French (2007: 25) call the "powerful consequences" of such feelings. So readers "experience" but at a safe distance. In order to experience fiction, the reader must suspend disbelief, they must believe the illusion. This group of students is, perhaps, not willing or able to suspend disbelief.
The following section Students who need more work on using text details is presented as an example of how you might foreground the Key Competencies within reading. In particular, it exemplifies how you might foreground "Using language, symbols, and texts" and, to a lesser extent, "Thinking" within reading through a focus on the way authors construct characters with carefully chosen details. This approach requires students to not just understand the text but to understand how the text is constructed and why it is constructed that way. This idea is expanded below. In the table below, Using language, symbols, and texts has the largest bolded font because it is the most important to this particular example.
Students who need more work on using text details
Writers build characters with details. Good writers are meticulous in their choice of details, including only those that add value and meaning to the description of a character. It is these details, as well as background knowledge, that a reader uses in order to respond to questions such as "How do you know Sam, Abby, and Rebecca are unkind?", "When Petronella decided to turn back into a frog, did she make the right choice?" and "Do you like Petronella?"
Details: telling and showing - Writers may choose to use details that tell readers about characters if they want to convey information quickly. For example:
Petronella looked unhappy. (p.14)
However by telling the reader that Petronella "looked unhappy", the writer has not given the reader the opportunity to come to their own conclusions about how Petronella is feeling; and, increasingly, modern readers expect to have that opportunity.
More commonly, writers of fiction will choose to use details that show characters to readers. For example:
Petronella was left alone with the frog. She sighed. (p.15)
Here the reader must infer how Petronella might be feeling: perhaps she is relieved the girls have gone; perhaps she is disappointed, or maybe even sad.Ask your students to compare how they respond to having the opportunity to come to their own conclusion about how Petronella might be feeling with how they would respond if the author had simply told them "Petronella was sad".
Details: general and specific - When writers tell readers about characters they use details that are general or broad. For example Sam says Petronella is:
"...dressed funny" (p.13)
The word "funny" is general (or abstract); it has a broad rather than specific meaning because it can be generally applied to all sorts of situations. You might like to ask your students to tell you about the situations "funny" can be applied to in an attempt to show them that it is not specific to any particular situation. (Note that at this point your students will probably be unclear about why "funny" is general; in fact they may even argue that it has a specific meaning. It will probably not be until the end of the following exercise that they have a clearer understanding.)
However, when writers show characters to readers they use specific (or concrete) details. For example:
Petronella knelt down, and lifting the frog to her face, she kissed it. Two frogs jumped into the deepest puddle. (p.18)
Here readers create an image that is specific. They create a vivid picture in their heads; they can "see" this image. Most importantly, it is vivid pictures like this one that have impact upon readers.
Finally, ask your students to attempt to create a picture in their heads of someone who is dressed "funny" (you may need to explain at some point that it is impossible unless they imagine a specific situation).
For more information on the terms "abstract" and "concrete" go to: http://www.nzcermarking.org.nz/help/AbstractInformation.html