The ability to ask and answer questions both orally and on paper are fundamental skills for English language learners. One day, a student asked me "who old is you?" Instead of simply dismissing the student as being wrong, I decided it was time for them to practice learning how to ask questions. Thus, I designed a unit to help students learn how to answer questions by first practicing how to ask them.
Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Nepali and English Matching Cards
We started the unit by exploring the meanings of each of the six question words. I made self-correcting flash card puzzles for each word in English and Nepali, and the students played a matching game finding the correct Nepali word for the English word. (yes, this activity also helped me learn some important Nepali words.)
The way the game works is, you divide the class into two equal teams. Then, put the English cards on one side of the front of the classroom, and put the Nepali words on the other side of the classroom. Have the students stand in two lines, putting students with equal ability levels opposite one another. On the count of "1,2,3 go!" the two students on opposite teams run to match an English question word to the Nepali question word. The first student back with a correct match gets a point for his/her team.
Question Word Comics
I have found comics to be a great way to reinforce concepts with my 2-5th grade students. They call for a degree of creativity, but also show whether or not the students understand the topic being studied. In the comic below, a fifth grade student is drawing pictures to match self-selected questions using the "who, what, when, where, why, and how" words.
Question Word Post-It Game
I LOVE post-it notes. They are also very useful in the classroom for teaching anything that involves categorizations. I started this activity off by writing a series of ten questions on the board. I gave each child a different colored pack of 10 post-it notes. (There are only six students in my 4th grade class, so this was not too much work. I would not, however, recommend this activity for large class sizes). Anyways, I had the students copy ten questions from the board. But, the questions were missing their question words! Throughout the classroom, I taped up pieces of paper with the words "who, what, when, where, why, and how." Students had to individually put their post-it notes, on the correct question word.
When all the students were finished, we practiced correct pronunciation and intonation when asking the questions. Once the students understood how to ask questions, it was time to begin answering them!
Finding the Answers
I did a few different activities to help the students begin answering the questions. I started doing this orally. I simply put the students into two lines, one with "questioners" and the other with "answerers" and I had them practice asking and answering questions with one another. After practicing asking and answering the questions orally, I had the students practice writing and answering the questions in a self-created and illustrated mini-book called "My Question Diary." The question diary contained a number of questions such as "what is your name? where do you live? what sports do you enjoy?" I made a list of questions on the board that students could choose from. For their question diary, they had to choose five questions, and write the question and answer in a small mini book that they made from computer paper. Along with writing and answering the questions, they had to provide illustrations. I was amazed by how beautiful their books turned out! Unfortunately, they took the books home to show their parents and siblings before I could snap a picture, but I guess its a good thing because it shows that they are proud of their work.
I used the "My Questions Diary" as a means of assessing the students written ability to write and answer questions, but I wanted to find a way to also assess the students' oral ability to ask and answer questions...on the final day of the unit, it was game time! I found a really cool game which uses a deck of cards to ask and answer questions.
Talking Cards
Materials required:
One or two packs of playing cards and the questions sheet.
Objectives:
To get the student used to answering general questions at a level that resembles normal speech and to build conversational confidence.
How to play:
You distribute the cards among your students. If you have a large class use two packs of cards. The student answers the corresponding question to that card. The student is awarded 4 points for a complete answer, 3 points for a reasonable answer, 2 points for an incomplete answer, and 1 point for any answer at all. If your class is up to it, you can get them to award the points.
Spades (Describing things)
Ace
Describe your face.
King
Describe your clothes.
Queen
Describe your mother.
Jack
Describe your father.
Ten
Describe an apple.
Nine
Describe your bedroom.
Eight
Describe your best friend.
Seven
Describe what you had for breakfast today.
Six
Describe your English teacher.
Five
Describe the difference between a dog and a cat.
Four
Describe a pencil.
Three
Describe your favorite hobby.
Two
Describe this game.
Hearts (what questions)
Ace
What did you have for dinner last night?
King
What did you have for lunch today?
Queen
What is your favorite sport? Why?
Jack
What did you do last night?
Ten
What type of music do you like? Why?
Nine
What is your favorite game? Why?
Eight
What does your mother do?
Seven
What does your father do?
Six
What is your favorite subject at school? Why?
Five
What did you do last Sunday?
Four
What is your favorite television programme? Why?
Three
What would you do if you could do anything in the world?
Two
What is the one thing you would change about yourself?
Clubs (mixed questions)
Ace
What is your address in English?
King
What time do you usually get up?
Queen
Where did you go for your last holiday?
Jack
Where were you born?
Ten
Why are you studying English?
Nine
Which do you prefer, summer or winter, and why?
Eight
Which magazines do you like to read?
Seven
How many hours do you usually sleep at night?
Six
Do you like shopping? Why?
Five
How often do you go to the cinema?
Four
What was the last movie you saw?
Three
Would you like to travel to other countries? Why?
Two
How many friends have you got and who are they?
Diamonds (if clause)
Ace
If you could have a pet what would it be?
King
If you had a million dollars what would you spend it on?
Queen
If you could meet any person in the world who would it be and why?
Jack
If you could change something about your school what would it be?
Ten
If you had to live in another country which one would you choose?
Nine
If you could do anything in the world what would you do?
Eight
If you could speak three languages well, what would they be?
Seven
If you were rich, what would you do?
Six
If you had to spend a day alone at home, what would you do?
Five
If everyone in the world suddenly disappeared, what would you do?
Four
If you could choose how old you were, how old would you be and why?
Three
If you could choose any meal you wanted, what would it be?
Two
If you found $100,000 what would you do?
If you haven't already inferred this from my posts and pictures, I absolutely love my students. I am amazed by how hardworking they are and am blessed with the opportunity to feed their hunger for learning. Since teaching this unit, my students have been more vocal speaking English outside the classroom, and the skills they learned from it helped bump up their government exam scores. I am very proud of the progress that has been made over the past three months.
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