WH Questions Story Retell
Materials
Answering WH questions and retelling stories are 2 essential skills for academic and social language success. We know this!
However, teaching these skills can be harder than it looks (we know this too!). Keep reading to find out how I like to begin teaching these skills in tandem and grab some free materials to help you get started.
Background
Ahhh...the ever popular goal of how to ask and answer WH questions. It is such a critical yet complicated goal for speech therapy clients. To review more about this skill and what other skills it really entails, click the link below
Story retell....another oh so popular goal! To learn more about story grammar and narrative structure, please click the link below.
Many of us (including me), teach WH questions AND story retell during literacy and/or conversational tasks. However, there is A LOT going on while listening to a story. There is grammar, attention, vocabulary...to name a few.
This can be too overwhelming during the teaching phase, and the specific skills being targeted get lost.
WH Questions & Story Recall - New Protocol
Due to my client's need and lack of progress with WH questions and story retell, I came up with a new plan and some new materials. I realized that these areas of need go hand in hand and progress in one area can really support progress in the other.
New Protocol:
First, I show the child a picture and ask "who," "what doing," "where," "when," and sometimes "why" questions to practice how to answer each questions. Why?
- I like how there ISN'T a story paired with it. This way, the child can practice ONLY the WH questions.
- I ask all 4 (sometimes 5) WH questions (who, what doing, where, when, and why) together so the child can compare the different answers to each question. (note, this may be too hard for some children depending on their skill levels)
- This task is short and can be done in a "drill like" fashion to get a lot of focused practice!
Second, if the child is ready, I have him/her retell the story back to me! To do this, I show the child the exact same picture and have them "tell the story" in 1 or 2 sentences.
To do this, I created a sheet with boxes/prompts for "when," "where," "who," and "what doing."
- First, I pair these 2 activities together so the child can practice "story retell" with all the "key components" while only using a picture as a guide.
- I like how the "key components" of the story retell were JUST reviewed in a direct manner
- I take out all other language skills to only work on the target skills
- The child relates WH questions with story grammar/story retell
- This task is quick and can be done in a "drill like" fashion to get a lot of focused practice!
Access Materials and Thousands More!
If you need materials for WH question & story retell, I've got you covered.
I created 104 page packet which includes:
- 1/2 pages with black and white images (easy printing)
- 1/2 pages with colors images
- 52 pages with WH question prompts (who, what doing, where, when)
- 52 pages with story retell prompts (retell a story in 1-2 sentences!)
For those who are new or as a friend reminder, these materials and THOUSANDS more are on Speech Therapy Talk's membership!
You can join here!