Asking and Answering: Questions That Get Information

We are learning to ask and answer questions to get information, and to notice how asking looks and sounds.

Before you startAbout 35 minutes · what success looks like · notes for the helper

About 35 minutes. It's fine to stop after the Quick Check and come back another day: the lesson opens where you left it, at the Quick Check.

You'll know you've got it when

I can tell the difference between asking and telling
I can ask a yes/no question and a who, what, where or why question
I can answer a question with the kind of information it asks for
I can show I am asking with my face and voice

For the helperhow to sit beside this lesson, and what this step is for

This step: Spark

Start with the question at the top and chat about it. There is no wrong answer here: it gets your learner thinking about what they already know.

Getting ready: A picture book your child enjoys, with plenty happening in the pictures, and some paper and a pencil. A small toy to pass between you can help show whose turn it is to ask. For the choices: a bag or pillowcase and an everyday object for the Mystery Bag, a pencil and folded paper for Asking Face, Telling Face, or shoes for a short Wonder Walk. All of it takes about 35 minutes, a little long for one sitting at six; many families stop after the check and come back to the chosen task later in the day.
What understanding sounds like: Listen for your child choosing a question word on purpose: 'I want to know the place, so I'll ask where.' A why question that gets a 'because' answer, and a voice that lifts at the end of 'Is it...?', both show the idea landing.
A likely mix-up, and something that helps: Many six-year-olds expect a yes/no question to get them the whole story, so they ask 'Did you like the beach?' and get back 'Yes.' You might ask, 'Did that tell you much? Which question word could get Nan talking: what, where or why?'
If it comes easily: For a child who has it, one stretch is a guessing game with a hidden object where only yes/no questions are allowed, then talking together about which questions narrowed it down fastest.
If it's a struggle: If it is a struggle, one way is to stay with one question word at a time, starting with 'where' and pointing to places in the book's pictures, before adding 'who' and then 'what'. If your child goes quiet, you might do the asking yourself with a big asking face and let them answer by pointing at the picture; answering is half the lesson. Saying asking, telling, question and question word together first, in your home language if that is easier, can help.

Step 1 of 6 · Spark

Lesson 1 of 4 · Talk With Me: Asking, Telling and Taking Turns

What happened here?

For the helper

Start with the question at the top and chat about it. There is no wrong answer here: it gets your learner thinking about what they already know.

Picture this. A muddy puppy. A big hole by the fence. Dirt all over the back step. You want to know what happened! What can you do? You can ASK. Asking is how we get information from other people. Today you will learn to ask questions that get the answers you want, and to answer other people's questions too.

Asking GETS information. Telling GIVES information.