Why and How Questions
Cards targeting why and how question forms.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Do the personal why questions before the general ones. Why did you laugh has an answer the child owns; why is the sky blue requires knowledge they may not have, and failing on the second says nothing about their question comprehension. The how questions want a sequence rather than a single answer — how do you make a sandwich should produce several steps, and one step is an incomplete answer.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- HintReread the key sentence, or point back to the clue in the text or picture.Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two answers, the right one not always second.Log as cued
- ModelThink aloud: say how you worked it out, then the student says the answer and why.Log as cued
Adjust it
Read it aloud to the student and offer two choices from the start.
Ask the student to say which words gave them the clue, not just the answer.
Matching IEP goal
Given short texts or spoken prompts, Student will answer wh- questions in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Twelve questions split between why and how: why is the sky blue, why do we sleep, why did you laugh, why do we wear coats in winter, why does ice melt; how do you make a sandwich, how does a car move, how do plants grow, how do birds fly, how do you tie your shoes, how do you get to school. Both demand explanation rather than identification, which makes them the hardest question words.
What to listen for
Listen for because clauses on the why answers. Cold is an answer and because it is cold is the target, and the clause is what school will require. Watch the how answers for sequence: a student who says with bread has named an ingredient rather than described a process, which is the characteristic error and needs a different prompt.
Carrying it home
Why questions are constant with young children, usually in the other direction. Answering in a full because sentence, and asking one back, gives the structure without any materials.
What's in this activity
- Why is the sky blue?
- Why do we sleep?
- Why did you laugh?
- Why are you happy?
- Why does ice melt?
- How do you make a sandwich?
- How does a car move?
- How do plants grow?
- How do birds fly?
- How do you tie your shoes?
- How do you get to school?
- +1 more
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- First through fourth, after who, what, where and when are secure.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all twelve questions are free to use here.
- Why are these harder than the other question words?
- Because they need explanation rather than identification. Who and where can be answered by pointing; why needs a causal clause and how needs a sequence, both of which are much larger language demands.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.