Write the Question

Eight answers are printed on this 2nd grade page, one to a row, each with a picture of the person it names and a phrase highlighted in coral. A single wide set of handwriting rules sits under every one. The sheet shown highlights Mia, Eli, in the kitchen, at three o'clock, the number two, the calf, the jeep and at home. The child writes out the whole question that would have asked for the highlighted part, and supplies the question mark themselves.

There is no bank and no first word given, which is what makes this the productive face of the family. Writing the question means more than choosing its opening word: Anna sleeps at three o'clock has to become When does Anna sleep, so the verb changes shape and an auxiliary appears from nowhere. That inversion is the real 2nd grade content, and it is the reason this page needs a demonstration before it needs a pen.

One sheet, eight answers, eight questions. Work the first one through on the board — the highlighted part, the question word, then the rest of the sentence rearranged — and leave it up while they write. Two of the eight highlight a name and so open with Who, which needs no inversion at all; those are the ones to start a hesitant child on.