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DODO Learning
Think Once. In Both Languages.
Lesson 16
Little DODO · Phase 3

Asking Questions with Mouse and Stones

Mouse Soup · pp. 24-33 · Format B · Disposition: Observing & Describing · 25 min
Mouse Soup
Pages this lesson: 24-33
Grammar · Sentence Types · Questions
Students identify and write question sentences, recognizing question marks and capital letters.
Question Sentences · Question Marks · Sentence Types · Capitalization · Interrogative Form
Introduce

Vocabulary Exploration· 5 min

Sound focus: question mark punctuation
Target words
  1. wonder 24: “But I wonder”
  2. tell 26: “can you tell us”
  3. sad 28: “How sad”
  4. good 32: “Oh good!”
Today we hunt for questions in our story. Questions end with a special mark — a question mark. Let's find them together and make our voices go up at the end.
Exploration steps
  1. Point to each question mark on the word cards before showing the words
  2. Students hunt for question marks on pages 24-32
  3. Chorus each question sentence with rising voice at the end
Expected responses
  • I see a question mark
  • The stones ask the bird
  • Mouse can you tell us
Differentiation

Fast finishers: count all question marks on assigned pages; quiet kids: point to question marks instead of reading aloud.

Transition cue

Tap question mark card three times — Reading Time.

Anticipated pitfalls

Don't let kids read questions flat — rising intonation is the auditory cue for question recognition.

Why this matters: Voice goes up at question mark — model this before kids chorus.

Reading in Class· 10 min

Required reading pages: 24-32
Opening move: Point to the two large stones on page 24 sitting on the hillside.
The stones ask the same question twice in this story. Listen for it — then we'll chorus it together with our question voices going up at the end.
Read-aloud steps
  1. Picture-walk pages 24-32: stones on hill, bird flies over, mouse climbs up
  2. Read aloud once at storytelling pace, pausing at each question mark
  3. Read again with students chorusing all question sentences with rising voices
Call-and-response refrains
  1. can you tell us what is on the other side of the hill? 26: “can you tell us what is on the other side of the hill?”
  2. can you tell us what is on the other side of the hill? 30: “can you tell us what is on the other side of the hill?”
Expected responses
  • can you tell us what is on the other side of the hill
  • the stones want to know
  • they ask the bird and the mouse
Differentiation

Struggling readers: echo-read the question after navigator first; fast finishers: find both question pages before second read.

Transition cue

Close book, hold up question mark card — Questions Time.

Anticipated pitfalls

Don't skip the picture-walk — kids need to see bird flying high and mouse nose-down before the answer contrast makes sense.

Why this matters: The repeated question is the anchor — chorus it twice so kids own the rising-voice pattern.

Questions Time· 7 min

Comprehension questions
  1. Which sentence on this page ends with a question mark? 24: “But I wonder what is on the other side of the hill?”
  2. Find the question the stones ask the mouse. 30: “can you tell us what is on the other side of the hill?”
Extension

Write your own question for the stones.

32: “We feel happy now.”

What students produce: One question sentence with capital letter and question mark at the end.

Now you write a question for the stones. Start with a capital letter. End with a question mark. Make your voice go up when you read it back.
Expected responses
  • Can you see the bird?
  • What is over the hill?
  • Do you like the flowers?
Differentiation

Quiet kids: draw the question first, then dictate to navigator; fast finishers: write two questions.

Transition cue

Hold up student question pages — Conclusion Time.

Anticipated pitfalls

Don't accept questions without question marks — this is the one punctuation rule kids can see and fix immediately.

Why this matters: Model one question first — 'Can you see the hill?' — before kids write their own.

Conclusion· 3 min

Routine: I Noticed · Disposition: Observing & Describing
Student-facing prompts
Recap: I noticed questions end with...
Take-home: Ask your family one question tonight and listen for your voice going up.
Today we noticed that questions end with a special mark — the question mark. We made our voices go up at the end. Tomorrow we'll find more questions in a new story.
Expected responses
  • question marks
  • a curvy mark
  • the mark that goes up
Differentiation

Fast finishers: hunt question marks in classroom books; quiet kids: point to one question mark on their paper.

Anticipated pitfalls

Don't let recap become a list of story events — anchor on the punctuation observation only.

Why this matters: Same question-mark observation every day builds punctuation fluency.