Mice Squeak, We Speak

Written by Tomie dePaola

Summary: This book uses a simple noun/verb sentence style to describe the way different animals communicate.

Mini-Lesson: Main Idea and Details

This book is  a great simple introduction to teaching main idea and details.  The books is a list of details.  After reading the book, have the students create a main idea statement by thinking about what the book is mostly about.  Make a web with the class’s main idea in the middle and the various details the author uses around the outside.  You can refer back to the story, as needed.  This makes for a nice discussion about how readers can infer the main idea, even when the author does not state it.

Mini-Lesson: Expanding Vocabulary

This book is also a nice book for talking about interesting verbs.  The some verbs used in the book may unfamiliar to the students, providing an opportunity to talk about synonyms or categorized words by what type of sounds is being made (i.e. loud, soft, big, small)