So many kiddos have WH question goals… in some form or another. The ability to answer WH questions is important, in all settings: school, home, in conversation, etc…
I knew this, but I always wondered how to teach WH questions without feeling like I was testing the kiddo. I didn’t want to repeat the question over and over, emphasizing the first word anymore. I didn’t want to point to my WH questions poster that they had seen 100 times but hadn’t fully understood. I wanted to give them an activity where they could succeed, and reflect back on later as the questions got more difficult.
So what’s an SLP blogger to do? Make something! I made a WH Questions Interactive Book. This book is AMAZING for actually teaching the concept of WH questions. Almost every single kiddo I’ve used this with has been able to be successful with it almost immediately. Below are some ideas for teaching WH questions. Have fun!
I follow the steps in my WH Questions Interactive Book. Below are more pictures of the book. Basically, you can use the first couple pages to sort/teach the basics.
Then, have your students find three icons for each page: one that describes the who, one for where, and one for what. The book contains eight scenes, 8 people, and 8 items. Each picture is simple so you can use this to teach a variety of levels!
I also included icons for each type of WH question, and example questions for how, when, and when for each scene.
I work at this level for quite a while with each student. I really want them to understand all of this!! Before moving on, I like my students to be able to independently fill in the boxes for each page, AND be able to answer my WH questions about each page when I mix up the order of the questions asked. For example, I might turn to a page and ask “where” first once, and then “who” first the next time. I usually point to the icon on the bottom of the page when I ask the questions.
For many students, I incorporate my WH questions with real pictures product in conjunction with my WH questions binder. I love the fact that they utilize real pictures!
Click here to check out WH Questions with Real Pictures in my store.
After they are able to do this, I use the following worksheets which are also included in the book
These are also great for mixing it up, to ensure your students really understand what is being asked.
After these interactive materials, I move to more typical WH Question activities. You can find these all over Teachers Pay Teachers depending on what you’re looking for.
Click here to see my WH Questions Interactive Book in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
I LOVE the visuals I found at Speaking of Speech. I glued them on the back of paint chip cards and they fit perfectly. An easy way to have your students reference visuals! Check it out!
The last way I love to teach WH questions is to use Story Cubes.
I absolutely love the freebie worksheets from Sublime Speech. Click here to check them out! I would recommend having your students plan the who, where, what, why, how, and when for their stories, and then use the one from Sublime Speech to write the story!
What creative ideas do you have for teaching WH questions? I’d love to hear!
{thanks for reading}
It looks great. I just posted it on my FB page.
Thank you so much!
I love this. I have the story cubes because I have had older students for several years. This fall I am also working with younger students. This is a great way to teach ‘WH’ questions.
Thanks for sharing your creative ideas!
just ordered this ! Can’t wait to use it!!!! Looks fabulous! Thank you!
just ordered this!!! Can’t wait to use it!!! Thank you
Technical question: When you put together the binder, do you hole punch the laminated pages? Thanks!
Yes that’s exactly what I do! 🙂
Do you have any ideas as to how to elicit the child to come up with the wh- questions themselves rather than answering them?
I made and use this product for question formulation! Hope it’s helpful for you! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Question-Formulation-Maps-2345294
How do you use the story cubes to teach WH questions? I just ordered a box, so I am curious to find out how you used them!
Thanks!
I have students make stories using the cubes as directed, but then fill out WH question worksheets about their story. For example, “Who was this story about?” or “Where did the story happen?”. Hope that helps!
Hi,
I love your materials. Thank you. Can you guide me on how to make them answer for common questions like ” what happens when a egg is dropped? ” or ” how does the fish move” . Any common questionnaires?
For the first question, I’d focus on knowledge of cause/effect. For the second, teaching “how” question types would be useful. Good luck!
I love your products, I’ve bought a lot of them but his one “WH Questions w/ Real Pictures” I can’t print. I but it on a usd stick so my school would print it for me but the file won’t print past page 7….can you help?
Thanks,
Did you use velcro on the story pages, if so, how did you keep from covering up the WH questions?
Yes I did! I used the clear kind. I found it at Walmart! 🙂
Thank you, guess I’m going shopping tomorrow.
I love this resource! Great ideas here! This is a difficult concept for many kiddos and this is great! I have a question you may be able to answer. I have been creating a lot of my own things ( not wh question stuff but others) and am wondering how you get rights to the photos you use on your products? Is there an easy way to do this so you can sell them?
Thanks for your kind words! Getting real photos for a reasonable price can be tricky. I look on sites like Shutterstock or Creative Market a lot. There are a lot of sites if you search for “stock images” and then read the commercial use policy closely! Good luck!
Here is best explanation of wh questions http://englishcraze.com/wh-questions/6/5/22/WH_Introduction
Hello,
Would it be possible to order this?
Please let me know how could we order it?
Yes! It’s available for sale at this link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/WH-Questions-Interactive-Book-1148866?aref=60m39wib