Travel up to Westborough, MA for a visit with the noted author of Frindle, Andrew Clements. Andrew talks about Frindle, the power of words and about his various inspirations. He shares some of the music he wrote when he was a young man and he describes what he thinks it takes to become a writer. -20 mins
Highly Recommended Title at Educational Media Marketplace, 2005

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Topics for classroom discussion and assignments:

• What is a frindle? How was that word invented?

•  Andrew Clements talks about where words come from.  Create your own mini-dictionary by picking five to ten objects and making up new names for them. You should  share these new words by presenting them to the class.

•  Andrew Clements tells viewers that a high school English teacher inspired him to become a writer. Write about different people in your life that have encouraged or inspired you to try different things, achieve something special, or do something you enjoyed.

• Do research and write a report on Dr. Samuel Johnson, who wrote the first major dictionary of the English language.

• A character in Andrew Clement’s book is a fifth grader who tries to distract his teacher.  Brainstorm questions that you could ask to distract your teachers.

• In “Frindle,” the teacher who everyone thinks is mean turns out to be a really good person. Write about someone who turned out to be something other than what you thought they would be. If can’t think of someone like this in your life, make up a story about a fictitious person like this.