May 15-31, 2013 Newmark Theatre 1111 SW Broadway TEACHER Inside this guide RESOURCE GUIDE ABOUT: The Show, Author, Playwright, and Composer ...........2 2012-2013 Discussion Questions; The Big Ideas............................3 Stories to Read; Science and Vocabulary Concepts ..............4 Oregon Educational Standards .................................5 Activities 1. Season Images — Emphasize the cyclical nature of the play, the calendar year, and characteristics of different seasons by illustrating and writing about favorite seasonal activities. ...6 2. Snail Mail Delivery — Assign each student a letter buddy and instruct them to write a letter to their buddy describing a positive trait or favorite memory of them from this school year. ...........7 3. Science Connections — An overview of the science concepts that connect to the performance and some activity ideas to con- nect to existing science curriculum. ..........................8 4. Puppets and Character Traits — Review character traits and Teacher Info & Important Dates build vocabulary. Students use simple Frog and Toad puppets to act out different adjectives and decide which traits belong to Friday, March 22: Full balance due, last day each character..............................................9 to reduce seats 5. Animal Relay — Combine theater and physical education to get Friday, May 10, 7pm: Teacher preview students thinking about how actors move their bodies on stage to Length: 60 minutes portray animal characters. Introduce the four different character movements and then use the movements in a relay race.......10 Location: Newmark Theatre Reading List .................................................11 Music by Robert Reale. Book and Lyrics by Willie Reale. Based on the books by Arnold Lobel. Directed by Dani OCT School Services .........................................12 Baldwin. Teacher resource guide by Allison Davis. 1 About The Show The Playwright, Willie Reale est friends Frog and Toad have been delighting young readers Willie Reale grew up in Park Ridge, New Jersey with four brothers B for more than 25 years. Outgoing and optimistic, Frog brings and a sister. In 1981, Reale founded The 52nd Street Project, an out the best in the reserved and cautious Toad. A Year with Frog organization that brings inner-city children together with profes- and Toad follows the friends as they adventure through the sea- sional theater artists. He served as the theater’s artistic director sons: speeding down snowy hills in sleds, planting springtime for 18 years. The 52nd Street Project’s programs are currently flowers, splashing in summer swimming holes, and piling up being replicated at 14 sites across the country and in Europe. In autumn leaves. Together, they bring joy and exuberance to every- June of 1994, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in recogni- day moments—encouraging each other and enjoying each other’s tion of his ingenuity in creating theater and theater education pro- company through thick and thin. grams for young people. The play begins as the birds are returning from their winter migra- Other theater credits include Once Around the City (book and lyr- tion and Frog and Toad are just waking up from hibernation. The ics), which was produced Off-Broadway at the Second Stage beginning of a new year brings many seasonal adventures—plant- Company. He was nominated for two Tony Awards for A Year ing a garden, going swimming, flying kites. As the year progresses, With Frog and Toad, which he wrote with his brother, composer the seasons change, the leaves turn colors and get raked up, the Robert Reale. With his brother (and Richard Dresser) he has also snow arrives, and Frog and Toad go sledding. At the end of their written Johnny Baseball, which was produced at the American marvelous year, it’s Christmas Eve, and after celebrating, it’s time Repertory Theater. to return to hibernation. The cycle is completed when the birds return again, and Frog and Toad get ready to ring in another mar- Mr. Reale has an Academy Award nomination in the best song cat- velous year! egory for his work as a lyricist on the movie Dreamgirls and has won 3 Emmy Awards for as the writer/producer behind the recent reinvention of 1970’s literacy classic, The Electric Company, now The Author, Arnold Lobel airing on PBS. Willie has written extensively for network televi- sion and has been nominated 3 times for Writer’s Guild Awards. Arnold Lobel is the author or illustrator of more than 100 books for children, but he is best remembered for his classic series of Frog and Toad books: Frog and Toad Are Friends (1970), Frog and Toad The Composer, Robert Reale Together (1972), Frog and Toad All Year (1976), and Days with Frog Robert Reale has collaborated with his brother Willie on numer- and Toad (1979). ous musical theater projects, including A Year with Frog and Toad, Using engaging stories and interesting vocabulary to explore the which earned Robert a Tony nomination for Best Original Score. meaning of friendship, Lobel significantly loosened the traditional While continuing to bring musical stories to the stage, he founded early-reader format. Appealing animals populate most of his 4 Elements Music, a music library, with a roster of fellow compos- books, including A Zoo for Mister Muster (1962) and Fables (1980), ers. Rob and his team work extensively in providing music for which won the Caldecott Medal. He also wrote poetry (Whiskers major network news, dramatic series, documentaries, film, and and Rhymes, 1986), folktales (Ming Lo Moves the Mountain, 1982), commercials. The 4EM library now includes over 5,000 cuts by a and nonsense books (The Book of Pigericks, 1984). roster of over 40 accomplished composers, and regularly provides music for ABC’s Good Morning America, 20/20, and PrimeTime. With his wife, Anita Lobel, also a children’s book writer and illus- Other regular clients include NBC, CBS, Showtime and many oth- trator, he collaborated on several books, including How the Rooster ers. In addition to scoring for many demanding television and film Saved the Day (1977), A Treeful of Pigs (1979), and The Rose in My projects, Rob continues to work on several musical theater pro- (1984). He also illustrated Garden The Random House Book of ductions, including Johnny Baseball. Poetry for Children (1983) and The Random House Book of Mother Goose (1986). 2 Discussion Questions The Big Ideas • Friendship is a very important thing. 1. Do you have a best friend? What kinds of things do you like to do together? • There are always fun and exciting things to do, no matter what season it is. 2. How are Frog and Toad different from each other? Have you ever had a friend who was different than you, and how so? • What qualities do you look for in a friend? 3. Why do you think Toad is so gloomy sometimes? Is there any • People who are very different from one another can be advice you’d give him? very good friends. 4. How do Frog and Toad treat each other over the course of • Seasons pass and change occurs, but some things the play? remain the same. 5. Why does Frog decide to write Toad a letter? 6. Would you have asked Snail to deliver a letter? Why or why not? 7. Not too long ago, writing letters and having them delivered by messengers like Snail were the only means to talk to someone or send news from far away. What kinds of inventions and technology have made it possible to get news and information more quickly? Brainstorm a list. 8. Frog and Toad spend the seasons together doing different things outside and in their homes. What is your favorite season? Why? 9. During the winter, Frog and Toad both hibernate. Can you think of other animals that hibernate? Why do you think they do this? 10. Why can’t Frog and Toad stop eating the cookies that Toad bakes? If you had to stop eating them, what would you do to resist the temptation? Would that be easy or hard for you? 11. In the fall, Frog and Toad decide to rake each other’s leaves as a surprise. Why do they each decide to do this? Can you think of a time when you did a chore or a nice thing for someone to surprise them? How did it make you feel? 12. Who is more adventurous, Frog or Toad? Why do you think so? 13. Frog, Toad, and the other animals in the play form a community — a group of people that live and work together or nearby. Who are the people in your community? 14. There are no human characters in A Year with Frog and Toad. In the play, human actors will play the roles of animals. With students, brainstorm ways in which human actors might bring animal characters to life on stage. Point out different aspects of acting and theater, including costume design, vocal inflection, gestures, movements, etc. After seeing the play, compare student predictions with what they saw on stage. 3 Stories to Read Science Vocabulary The play A Year with Frog and Toad is based on several different and Concepts stories from books by Arnold Lobel. See below for the stories that Metamorphosis appear in the script: Amphibians Frog and Toad Are Friends Hibernation “Spring” Migration “A Swim” Habitat “The Letter” Species Frog and Toad All Year “Down the Hill” Ecosystem “The Surprise” Life cycle “Christmas Eve” Seasons Needs of living things Frog and Toad Together “The Garden” Growth and change “Cookies” Gardens and plants Days with Frog and Toad “The Kite” “Shivers” “Alone” 4 Oregon Educational Standards Arts: Create, Present and Perform Social Sciences: Historical Thinking AR.03.CP.01 Use experiences, imagination, essential elements 1.5 Use terms related to time to sequentially order events.