CHAPTER ONE

IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)

 How do you think your teacher would react if your class made a beach in the classroom? (pg. 3)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 What grade was Nick in when he made the classroom look like a tropical beach? Third p. 1
 Why wasn’t the custodian happy with the tropical theme? Sand trailed out into the hallway p. 2
 Who got in trouble when Nick chirped like a blackbird? Janet p. 4
 How often did Nick and Janet peep like blackbirds in the classroom? At least once a week p. 5

CHAPTER TWO
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 Look at the picture of Mrs. Granger on page 9. Based on the author’s description of her on the
previous pages, what are some other words you would use to describe her? (pg. 9)
 The author said that Mrs. Granger was smaller than most but seemed like a giant. After reading
page ten, discuss why did the author choose to use this language to describe Mrs. Granger and
how does it contribute to the story. (pg. 10)
 After reading Mrs. Granger's letter home on pages 10 and 11,compare and contrast your own
thoughts about dictionaries to Nick's. Do you agree or do you disagree with him? Why? (pg. 11)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 Even though, Mrs. Granger a fifth grade teacher was small, what made her look giant? Her eyes
p. 7
 What does Mrs. Granger love? The dictionary p. 8
 What did Mrs. Granger want the students to do if they didn’t know a word? Look it up in the
dictionary p. 11

CHAPTER THREE
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 What are some typical feelings and emotions you have on the first day of school (pg. 13)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 Why did Nick ask teachers a question right before the bell rang and class got out? To stop the
teachers from giving the students homework p. 14
 What was Nick’s question to Mrs. Granger? Where did dictionaries come from p. 15
 What did Mrs. Granger say to Nick’s question? She gave him homework/ he needed to write an
oral report on dictionaries p. 15
 How did Nick feel after his plan didn’t work? Very small p. 16
CHAPTER FOUR
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 How would you feel if you got assigned a research paper on the first day of school? (pg. 18)
 What do you think Nick is up to? If you were looking for an alternative to a book report, what
would you do? (pg. 21)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 When was Nick supposed to do his homework? Right when he got home from school p. 18
 When Nick couldn’t understand the first sentence in the dictionary, what did Nick compare it to
reading? The ingredients on a shampoo bottle p. 20
 How did Nick feel about doing the report? It was boring p. 21

CHAPTER FIVE
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 How is Nick feeling? Why do you think he feels like this? How would you feel if you were in
Nick’s position? (pg. 23)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 What was the title of Nick’s oral report? The Dictionary p. 24
 How much time was left in class when Mrs. Granger stopped Nick from giving his report? 10 min
p. 28
 Why doesn't Nick want to be a teacher’s pet? it will ruin his reputation p. 29

CHAPTER SIX
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 Are there any made up words you’ve used instead of real words before? If so, what were they?
(pg. 36)
 Would you sign the oath? Why or why not? (pg. 38)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 What did Janet find on the ground when she and Nick were walking home from school? a pen
p. 33
 What did Nick call the pen? Frindle p. 35
 How many kids did Nick send into the Penny Pantry to buy a frindle? five p. 37
 Why? To change the name of pen to frindle p. 38
CHAPTER SEVEN
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 What do you think Mrs. Granger is going to say to Nick? (pg. 40)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 What class did Nick introduce his idea of changing the name of a pen to frindle? Language arts
p. 38
 Why did Mrs. Granger call Nick up to speak with her? she didn’t like how he disrupted her class
p. 40
 Did she stop Nick from calling a pen a frindle? No p. 41

CHAPTER EIGHT
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 Do you think Nick and his friends will stop using the word “frindle” now that there is a threat of
detention? (pg. 43)
 After hearing Mrs. Granger’s explanation of the history of the word pen, what would you do or
say next if you were Nick?
 What do you think is written in that letter from Mrs. Granger? (pg. 47)
 What could Mrs. Granger have meant when she said “And may the best word win”? (pg. 47)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 What did all of the fifth graders say when they smiled for the camera? Frindle p. 42
 What did Nick feel his meeting was like when he met with Mrs. Granger after school? a
conference during a war p. 44
 When would Nick get the letter in the envelope Mrs. Granger had prepared for him? When the
frindle thing is all over p. 45
 Who came to visit Nick at his home when over 200 students were saying frindle and needing to
stay after school? the principal p. 48
CHAPTER NINE
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 Picture yourself in Nick’s shoes in this moment. What would you be feeling? (pg. 51)
 Clearly Nick’s mom and dad have different opinions on the whole “frindle” situation. If you were
Nick’s mom/dad, what would you do? What would you think of the whole situation? (pg. 55)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 Why did Mrs. Chatham feel like Nick had been disrespectful to Mrs. Granger? Mrs. Granger had
asked the students to stop saying the word and Nick had encouraged it p. 51
 How did Nick’s mom react to what was going on at school? annoyed/ didn’t think it was a big
deal that Nick had changed pen to frindle p. 52
 What game was Nick comparing the war going on between him and Mrs. Granger to? Chess p.
56

CHAPTER TEN
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 Think about this “tall boy with reddish-brown hair and glasses.” Why do you think that boy says
that Nick probably wouldn’t want to talk to the reporter? (pg. 63)
 Who do you think sent the package to Judy Morgan? (pg. 65)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 Why did Judy Morgan, the newspaper reporter, come to the school? to get the story about Nick
and frindle p. 58
 How did the principal react when Judy Morgan was asking her questions about what was going
on? Nervous p. 60
 What did Judy Morgan get in the mail? The picture of the fifth graders holding up their pens and
saying frindle p. 65
 What boy had Judy already met, but didn’t know until she looked at the picture? Nick p. 66

CHAPTER ELEVEN
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 N/A

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 Why would the title of the article in the newspaper have, “Move over, Mr. Webster”? Webster
is a popular dictionary p. 67
CHAPTER TWELVE
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 Nick became well-known around town but wasn’t the biggest fan of all of the attention. How
would you feel if you were in Nick’s situation? (pg. 71)
 Nick’s word “frindle” has become a nationwide concept. If you were in Nick’s shoes watching
the news on TV, how would you feel? (pg. 78)
 Frindle has now become known worldwide. Do you think things will ever be the same again for
Nick? Explain why or why not. (pg. 83)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 Being a hero was exciting for Nick, but what were some of the hard things about it? Always
needing to be funny and clever, always being watched p. 70
 How did the story about the frindle get so huge? It was on tv p. 77
 Why was Tom, Nick’s father, unhappy about the frindle story? There was too much fuss about it
p. 81
 What did Nick’s father do with the money Bud Lawrence gave him? put it in the bank for Nick’s
college fund p. 83

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 Nick’s fame and the hype of “frindle” seems to have died down. Why do you think Nick still
couldn’t forget? (pg. 87)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 In the towns across America where kids started using the word frindle, how did parents and
teachers feel about it? they tried to stop it p. 85
 Even though Mrs. Granger didn’t keep students after school anymore, how did she fight the
word on her spelling tests? Every week she’d put pen as the first word p. 87
 Who wasn’t able to forget what had happened with frindle? Nick p. 87
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 Why were all of the schools serving better lunch thanks to Nick? (pg. 93)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 How had Nick changed from the frindle experience? He became more careful with his ideas p.
89
 When was Mrs. Granger going to send Nick the letter? After the frindle thing was all over p. 91
 How did Mrs. Granger feel about the way Nick had behaved with the frindle? Proud of him p.
92

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
IN-TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (during reading)
 Nick got a lot of money from the trust fund. If you had thousands of dollars like Nick, what
would you do with it? (pg. 96)
 What do you think is written in the letter? (pg. 98)

DAILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (after reading)

 What was the package Mrs. Granger sent Nick? A dictionary with the word frindle in it, his
letter, her old pen with a little paper that said frindle p. 101
 What needed to happen so that Mrs. Granger could say their battle was over and she could send
him her letter? Frindle had to appear in the dictionary p. 98
 What did Nick do for Mrs. Granger? Set up a scholarship fund in her name and gave her a gold
pen with writing on it p. 105