WEBVTT

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[Music] Welcome to Single-Strategy 
Instruction: Asking "Wh-" Questions.

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My name is Katherine Rountree.

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I teach second grade at Graham 
Road Elementary School.

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Right now I am focusing on one 
specific standard during guided

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reading as well as during 
their individual work,

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and I'm hoping to incorporate 
multiple reading

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strategies and comprehension strategies
as we build up to that point.

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Our standard involves asking "who,"
"what," "when," "where," "why,"

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and "how" questions.

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At our PLC [professional learning
community], we created a visual anchor

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chart so that students can use it
to understand what each word

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in the question means and [be] able
to access that from their own

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personal experience.

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The anchor chart is a hand,
and each finger is a different question

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with a picture that goes along with it,
and then in the middle we have our "how."

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So there is: "Who?"
is a smiley face; "What?"

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is the numbers 1, 2, 3 for sequencing;
"Where" is a house, a place; "When?"

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is a clock; "Why?" is a question 
mark; and "How?" are footsteps.

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Basically, talking about when we ask 
"how" questions, we usually expect them

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to say the steps the characters went
through to solve a problem, for instance.

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I started with a quick link to 
access students' background knowledge

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and practice things that 
they are very familiar with.

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Students, they used the question stems
they've already heard and worked

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with earlier this week to ask questions
about each other's lives.

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They each received one card
with a question on it,

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and they found a partner,
asked each other the questions,

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listened to the answers,
and then traded the questions

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and found new partners.

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And that way, we use this type
of strategy to get students involved

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with each other.

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They are active right away; it's 
accessing things they have already

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done, and they were ready to move
on with the lesson.

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I selected my read-aloud text based
on the two question stems I taught

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today, the "how" and the "why."

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I was using the thinkaloud strategy
to show students how to read a question,

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go back to the story and think about 
what tools a good reader will use

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to access the answer.

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I went into a more active way
to teach the how question stem,

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because "why" is something that 
they are very familiar with

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and "how" is a little more tricky
for our English speakers

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of other languages.

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I had my students stand up
and find a spot in the room,

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and after I gave them a question,
they showed me

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with their bodies their answer.

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The struggle for my students stems
from their lack of exposure

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to the vocabulary and language
that I use in my classroom.

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I use visuals constantly.

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I make sure that I am accessing their
knowledge not just verbally

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but kinesthetically so that 
they can demonstrate their

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understanding and they can connect
to my instruction in a way

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that works for them.

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After my interactive read-aloud, I 
explained their individual center work.

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I developed a graphic 
organizer with my PLC team

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that addresses each question
for an independent book.

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However, because the children have not
been exposed to all of the questions

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at once, I actually cut the 
graphic organizer into strips.

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And so students could choose one
question stem that they could record

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their answers to and find their answers
in the evidence independently.

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During that time, I was also pulling 
small groups to my guided reading table

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and going further and deeper with 
the "how" and "why" questions

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by reading the text, by having 
comprehension questions

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and discussions about the text, and 
by differentiating my instruction.

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I chose text that could be answered 
using all the five Ws questions,

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because we use one text
over a length of time.

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So I wanted to make sure that 
they are getting the instruction

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broken down, but they are able to use
that independently and with a teacher,

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incorporating all of the questions.

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I am very sure that I am 
taking anecdotal notes

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in order to assess their 
understanding of the question

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and whether they are able
to locate their answers in the text.

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I also use the graphic organizers
that they use independently

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to assess their understanding
of what they can do by themselves

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with their independently leveled books.

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After guided reading, I had a ten-minute 
reflection block planned in.

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They chose an independent reading book.

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They used question stems that I had
on the board and chose

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which ones they wanted
to ask their partner.

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So they know they have this reflection
time where they are able

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to express their thoughts,
share their opinions about their text,

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and really have a discussion 
with multiple partners

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about what they read today
and about what we have been practicing.

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We started very slow to make sure
that our management was in place

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and our expectations were very 
clear and consistent.

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At this point in the year,
I am expecting them to work

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on the current standard 
that we are teaching.

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And once they develop a toolbox with all
of those different strategies,

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that's when I will go back and think
about how they can use their time

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effectively during independent work
to improve upon a standard

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that we already talked about.

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During upcoming lessons,
I am going to be incorporating all

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of the different question 
stems, and I'm also going

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to give them more opportunities
to ask their own questions.

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After my students demonstrate their
knowledge of these questions by asking,

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answering, and locating,
I'm planning on diving deeper

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with those inferential questions
and having them justify their opinions

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based on the text.

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[Music] To learn more about 
Single-Strategy Instruction:

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Asking "Wh-" Questions,
please see the additional materials

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on the Doing What Works website.