Hello! This week in February was all about wh question words. We focused on one word each day and by the end of the week, students had a good sense of these new high frequency words and how to use them in speaking, reading, and writing.
Planning is so easy for this week. It’s my only week of the year with no read aloud books.
Monday during morning read aloud time, I asked questions that started with who and the students tried to answer the questions.
Monday during afternoon read aloud time, the students asked questions that begin with who and we tried to answer them.
Monday during writing time, the students wrote questions that started with who, using a special sheet prepared for this activity.
At the end of the day on Mondays—every week—we review our heart words and I introduce one or two new ones. This week I introduced five new words—who, what, when, where, and why.
On Tuesday, we repeated the sequence of activities using the word what.
Wednesday was devoted to the word when. We once again asked questions, both in speaking and writing. Students saw some of the wh words in the continuous text I gave them during small group instruction.
Thursday was all about where, with more heart word practice at the end of the day.
We ended the week with why. Friday is early release so there is no writing time.
This sequence of activities has daily scaffolds as well as a natural release of responsibility as the week goes on. Students improve throughout each day as well as show tremendous growth by the end of the week (as evidenced in the video). It is so, so good for language development. I hope you’ll give it a try sometime during the remainder of your school year.
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