Jun. 17, 2009 - The beauty of the 5W and H

Who, what, where, when, why and how

These six words can be the basis of a unit study that you plan or even better yet it can guide you through a teaching moment that has caught you unprepared.

This morning I was looking at a story and wondering how to draw out the best learning opportunities.  It dawned on me if I asked each of those questions I would have covered a lot of ground.

• If we ask the question WHO – we talk about the people
• If we ask the question WHAT – we talk about the event
• If we ask the question WHERE – we talk about the place, geography
• If we ask the question WHEN – we talk about history
• If we ask the question WHY- we talk about philosophy and values
• If we ask the question HOW - we talk about how things came about – Science

These questions can be asked of anything that we read; the Bible, a picture book, a chapter book, a living book, a classical novel.

Once we ask a question we can encourage our children to find the answers.  This happens by them either thinking or researching and possibly even asking more questions.  Once the answers are found the children can record their learning – notebooking, media presentation, drama, art etc.  These questions even help us work out what written work can be expected.

Here are the basic options:

Who – write a biography, or character sketch

What – write about the event,

Where – maps

When – timeline

Why – think Biblically, a paragraph on your thoughts / observations

How – think scientifically, hypothesis and record your observations