WH Questions in Action

WH Questions is an app that helps any therapist work on a variety of WH question forms. You can choose to work on one or more of the six WH-question options. Here are a few ways to get you started.

I often start with this app to evaluate how well a student understands all WH question forms. I usually choose three forms at a time (why, how, where) and the next session I evaluate (who, when, what). This provides me with a baseline as the data is collected within the app. The app contains 400 questions and when completing my baseline data I will use about 10-15 questions per WH-question form. Once I’ve collected data I can target the question form(s) that need support. This app allows me to present many more questions as part of my therapy plan. And yes I do use other materials and activities to work on this skill.

When I use this app in a group I am able to choose how many questions are presented to each student. The options range from 1-4 questions per turn. Since some of my students are also working on focusing and turn taking I mix up how many turns they get in each session. This way not only are they “paying attention” (hopefully!) to see when their turn starts they are also watching and listening to the others in the group. So often they are used to one turn at time that mixing it up and keeps them on their toes (and yes some are literally on their toes).

I like to get my students moving in therapy whenever possible. So when using this app I have my students “act out” their answers and see if their friends can guess. So if the question is “What is your favorite animal?” the student might pretend to be a dog. The rest of the group takes turns guessing. I always tell the group that we are not trying to be tricky but see who can get the group to guess the fastest. But I do require the “actor” to give us two clues before we can guess. So the “dog” might scratch his ear and then bark. This too can lead to more WH questions- “What did you see? What did you hear? Who has a guess? Why did he scratch his ear?”

The other great thing on this app is the option to record. I can have my students record their answer to a question. Or even record the question itself, which allows us to work on wh- question formations. We also use this function to become a reporter. One student asks (or repeats) the question to another student who answers and the whole exchange is recorded. We call it: “What do you have to say.” I’m not sure if they enjoy being the reporter or listening to their voices more!