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Students learn to use 'who, what, where, and when' to understand stories better.
Have you ever wondered how to solve a mystery inside a book? By asking just four magic questions, you can become a story detective and understand every secret the author hides!
To understand a story, detectives use four magic words: Who, What, Where, and When.
- Who tells us about the characters, like a brave knight or a talking squirrel. - What tells us about the action or the problem in the story. - Where tells us the place, like a sandy beach or a tall mountain. - When tells us the time, like 'once upon a time' or 'on a sunny Tuesday.'
When we ask these questions, we aren't just reading; we are investigating! Every sentence is a clue that helps us see the full picture.
Read this sentence: 'Sam the dog ran to the park on Monday.'
1. Who is the story about? Sam the dog. 2. Where did he go? The park. 3. When did he go? Monday.
Quick Check
If a story says 'The blue bird flew to the nest,' which word tells us WHERE the bird went?
Answer
The nest
Sometimes, the words don't tell us everything. We have to look at the illustrations, which are the pictures in the book. Pictures are like secret maps! They can show us how a character feels (are they smiling or crying?) or what the weather is like. If you see a character wearing a heavy coat and boots in a picture, you know it is When it is cold, even if the words don't say it. Always look at the art to find extra details that the words might have missed.
Story: 'Lily smiled as she walked into the room.'
1. Look at the picture: There is a big cake with candles and colorful balloons. 2. What is happening? It is a birthday party! 3. How do we know? We used the illustration to find the cake and balloons.
Quick Check
True or False: Pictures in a book can help us answer questions about the story.
Answer
True
When someone asks you a question about a story, you can be a Text Expert. This means you go back to the page and point to the exact words or the part of the picture that gave you the answer. This is called finding evidence. If you say the cat is happy, you should be able to show the part of the story where it says 'The cat purred' or show the picture of the cat wagging its tail. Being a detective means proving your answer is right by looking back at the book!
Story: 'In the dark forest, a small mouse found a golden key under a leaf.'
1. Question: What did the mouse find and where was it? 2. Answer: The mouse found a golden key (What) under a leaf in the forest (Where). 3. Evidence: We found the words 'golden key' and 'under a leaf' right in the sentence!
Which question word helps us find the people or animals in a story?
If a story says 'The sun was hot at the beach,' when does the story take place?
You should only look at the words and ignore the pictures to understand a story.
Review Tomorrow
In 24 hours, try to name the 4 magic 'W' words we use to ask questions about stories.
Practice Activity
Pick your favorite picture book. Point to a character and ask 'Who is this?' then point to the background and ask 'Where are they?'