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DODO Learning
Think Once. In Both Languages.
Lesson 05
Little DODO · Phase 3

Lost and Found: Toad's Button Hunt

Frog and Toad Are Friends · pp. 30-40 · Format A · Disposition: Wondering & Questioning · 25 min
Frog and Toad Are Friends
Pages this lesson: 30-40
Fluency · Poetry
Students build fluency by reading a playful rhyming poem about blowing up a balloon until it pops.
Oral Fluency · Rhyme Recognition · Expressive Reading · Performance Poetry
Introduce

Vocabulary Exploration· 5 min

Target words
  1. meadow 30: “They walked across a large meadow.”
  2. drat 30: “"Oh, drat," said Toad.”
  3. wailed 35: “"That is not my button!" wailed Toad.”
  4. slammed 37: “Toad ran home and slammed the door.”
Toad loses something important and gets more and more upset. Let's learn the words that show how he feels as he searches. Listen for these words when we read.
Exploration steps
  1. Show the word card and the matching picture from the story page together
  2. Students chorus each word twice, then use it in a sentence about Toad
  3. Act out emotion words: say 'drat' with frustration, 'wailed' with sadness, 'slammed' with anger
Expected responses
  • a field with grass
  • when you're mad about something
  • crying while you talk
Differentiation

Fast finishers: find all four emotion words on story pages. Quiet kids: whisper-chorus before full-voice chorus.

Transition cue

Tap your head like Toad remembering — Reading Time!

Anticipated pitfalls

Don't skip the emotion acting — kids need the physical anchor to remember wailed vs. shouted.

Why this matters: Emotion words land when kids connect them to Toad's frustration building through the hunt.

Reading in Class· 10 min

Required reading pages: 30-40
Opening move: Point to Toad's jacket on page 30 — count the buttons visible before one goes missing.
Toad says the same thing over and over as he gets more upset. Every time I point to you, chorus Toad's words with me. Let's make our voices match his feelings.
Read-aloud steps
  1. Picture-walk pages 30-40: Toad loses a button, Frog and friends find wrong buttons, Toad finds it at home, Toad sews all buttons on jacket as a gift
  2. Read aloud once at storytelling pace, pausing on each wrong button to let kids see the difference
  3. Read again with students chorusing Toad's refrain each time he rejects a button
Call-and-response refrains
  1. That is not my button! 32: “"That is not my button," said Toad.”
  2. That is not my button! 34: “"That is not my button," said Toad.”
  3. That is not my button! 35: “"That is not my button!" wailed Toad.”
Expected responses
  • getting louder each time
  • he sounds madder and madder
Differentiation

Struggling readers: point to the refrain text on each page during chorus. Fast finishers: add a Toad gesture on each refrain.

Transition cue

Hold up four fingers like button holes — Questions Time!

Anticipated pitfalls

Don't let one loud student drown the chorus — count to three before accepting the refrain together.

Why this matters: Chorus the refrain with increasing frustration each time — kids feel Toad's emotion build through rhythm.

Questions Time· 7 min

Comprehension questions
  1. Why does Toad keep saying the buttons are not his? 32: “"That button is black. My button was white."”
  2. Where was Toad's real button the whole time? 37: “There, on the floor, he saw his white, four-holed, big, round, thick button.”
Extension

Draw Toad's jacket at the end.

38: “Toad sewed the buttons all over his jacket.”

What students produce: A jacket covered with buttons of different colors, shapes, and sizes — the gift Toad made for Frog.

Toad was so upset during the search, but look what he did with all those wrong buttons. Let's think about why the story ends this way. Then you'll draw Toad's special jacket.
Expected responses
  • each button was different from his
  • he made something beautiful from his mistake
Differentiation

Quiet kids: pair-share jacket descriptions before drawing. Fast finishers: label three different button shapes on your drawing.

Transition cue

Button your lips — Conclusion Time!

Anticipated pitfalls

Don't rush the talk phase — kids need time to notice Toad turned frustration into friendship.

Why this matters: Talk-first before drawing protects kids who freeze at blank pages — describe your jacket aloud together first.

Conclusion· 3 min

Routine: I Wondered · Disposition: Wondering & Questioning
Student-facing prompts
Recap: I wondered why Toad...
Take-home: Ask someone: Have you ever lost something important?
Today we wondered about Toad's feelings and his gift. Let's finish with our wondering sentence. I'll start, then you share your wonder with a partner.
Expected responses
  • got so mad when friends tried to help
  • made the jacket after being mean
Differentiation

Struggling speakers: offer two wonder-choices to pick from. Fast finishers: write your wonder sentence on the back of your drawing.

Anticipated pitfalls

Don't accept surface answers like 'I wondered about the button' — push to the feeling or friendship layer.

Why this matters: Same wonder-stem every day so kids own the close without navigator prompting.