Question Mark’s Curly Hook
A curious punctuation mark learns that different questions catch different kinds of answers.
Read together at your own pace. Pausing, rereading, or stopping is always okay.
Question Mark carried a curly hook but never used it to catch fish. It caught answers. “Where is my scarf?” hooked a place. “Who borrowed it?” hooked a person. “When will it return?” hooked a time.
Then Question Mark tried “Why?” without any context. Every answer floated past because nobody knew what the hook was reaching for. It tried again: “Why is the red scarf hanging on the garden gate?”
That question caught a story. Mina had used the scarf as a flag so her brother could find the picnic. The answer included a person, a reason, and a new question about whether the scarf was dry.
Question Mark polished its hook. Curiosity grew stronger when a question gave others enough information to begin answering.
Story workshop
Notice, talk, and play
Words to notice
- question
- words used to ask for information
- reason
- an explanation for why something happened
- curiosity
- a desire to learn
Talk about the story
- What kinds of answers did where, who, and when catch?
- Why was the first “Why?” difficult?
- How did a specific question help?
Try it together
Look at a picture and ask one who, what, where, when, why, and how question. Notice which cannot be answered from the picture alone.
Activities are designed for shared use. An adult should choose materials and supervision appropriate to the child.
Keep reading
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