Nikolai asks his animal friends to help him answer three important questions: When is the best time to do things?  Who is the most important one?  What is the right thing to do?

Eventually, he seeks the wise counsel of Leo, the wise old turtle who lives in the mountains. Leo guides Nikolai to answer his own questions after he saves a mother panda and her baby during a terrible ice storm.

Scholastic Press

 Strategies & Activities

Vocabulary

Background:   The author and illustrator, Jon J. Muth, based The Three Questions from a short story by the writer, Leo Tolstoy. Read the author's note on the back page for an insightful explanation of the origin of this charming book.

Activities/Strategies - Before reading:

1. Post Nikolai's 3 questions on a chart.  Tell the students that this book is about a boy who is seeking answers to these 3 questions. Have the students brainstorm how they would answer these questions if Leo asked them. Write student responses on the chart.

2. As you read the story, discuss Nikolai's friends' answers to the questions. Compare and contrast their answers to the students' responses.

3. Continue reading until the end of the story. Discuss the answers that Nikolai discoverd to his questions. How do his answers compare to the students' answers?

After reading:  Have the students think of their own questions they would like to have answered. These questions could be posted in the classroom. Place a sticky note pad beside the questions. As the students think of responses to the questions, they can write them on a sticky note and post the answers under the question. Share and discuss periodically.

Strategies:

1. Making Connections - Have the students think of text to self, text to text, and text to world connections.

2. Author's Purpose - Why do you think the author wrote this story?

3. Summarize

4. Describe the characters in the story. Are they like people you know?

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