This week some of Mrs. DeYoung's students with language goals used the "Who, What, When, Where, and Why?" strategy to remember details from stories. They recalled information by asking themselves: Who are the characters? Where does the story take place? When does it occur? What happened? and Why? Mrs. DeYoung would hold up five fingers as a cue for the " Five W's."
This is also a great method for following directions and formulating sentences or narratives. Students can check their own stories to see if they have explained who, what happened, where, when, and why. The strategy works well for relating personal events or writing narratives. Students expand their oral and written expression by including details about the chracters, setting, and reasons for events. Children can also remember instructions by thinking Who is the direction for? What should they do? Where and when should they do it? Parents can utilize this questioning technique to help their children describe activities or to remember what they've been told.
