Question Words: Who, What, Where

In every one of the seven sentences on this 1st grade page a phrase has been highlighted in pale coral and underlined, and three chips reading Who, What and Where sit beneath. The child circles the question word that would ask for the highlighted part. The sheet shown highlights Zoe, Jack, in the kitchen, the papaya, on the mountain, the horse and the tiger, so two rows answer Who, three answer What and two answer Where.

Highlighting rather than blanking is what makes this the base page of the family. The sentence stays whole and readable, and the child's attention is directed to one part of it, so the question word is chosen for a piece of meaning rather than for a hole. Two of the seven mark the subject at the very start of the sentence and the rest mark a phrase at the end, which is enough variation to stop the answer being read off the position.

One sheet, seven sentences, seven circles. Read the highlighted part aloud as a fragment when you introduce it — in the kitchen — because saying it alone is what makes the question word obvious. Three question words is the whole scope here; the fill-in and write-the-question faces add When and How many, and the picture face adds Why and How.