Student Handouts
The Five W's and How
Here is a great graphic organizer for ensuring that young researchers and writers cover all their bases when brainstorming a topic by considering the five W's (who, what, where, when, and why) and how.
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The 5 W's
Examine how to answer who, what, when, where, and why when reading text. Young writers listen to the story Skeleton Hiccups, and as a class answer and discuss the five W's. Independently they read the story silently, and write the...
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Monster Fun Learning the Five Senses
Students explore the five senses. In this health lesson, students read the book Brave Little Monster and identify the five senses from the book. Students draw an illustration from the book as a follow-up activity.
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Comprehending Through Questioning
Elementary schoolers observe and apply a variety of reading comprehension strategies. They silently read a passage out of their science textbook, and discuss answering the who, what, where, when, and how of the text. In small groups they...
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Ollie the Own Says: WHO
Scholars examine the strategy of making a story map or outline to identify the main elements of a story. They discuss the who, what, where, when, why, and how of a story, in an outline form. As a class they read a short story, answer the...
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Summarizing with James and the Giant Peach
Elementary readers in literature groups practice summarizing chapter-by-chapter with Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. Focus on main idea, supporting details, and the 5 Ws. Unfortunately, a clever "peach" graphic organizer to which...
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5 W Questions
Second graders practice asking the 5 W questions by reading a Boxcar Children book. In this journalism lesson, 2nd graders read a single story from the Boxcar Children series and answer the 5 W's about each specific chapter....
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Summing It All Up in a Nutshell
Students observe and demonstrate a variety of summarization strategies. They discuss the process of asking the five W questions, and apply then to a passage from the book "Sarah Plain and Tall." Students then finish the chapter from...
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Little Owl Press Report/Newspaper and Newscast Project
Discover journalistic techniques by having learners prepare and write their own class newspaper. They discuss the five W's of investigative journalism and conduct interviews with school figures. They utilize video technology, podcast...
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Let's Discuss Current Events
Investigate articles from the daily news and share opinions with classmates. Using current events, learners view a news program without sound and predict what news is being discussed by analyzing the visuals. Then they read news articles...
Media Smarts
Authentication Beyond the Classroom
In an age of fake news, alternative facts, and Internet trolls it is essential that 21st Century learners develop the skills they need to authenticate the facts in viral news. Here is a great way to begin with a resource that...
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Bears' House Vandalized, Witnesses Say Blonde Girl Spotted Fleeing from the Scene
Students explore journalism. In this expository writing lesson, students read several newspaper articles and note common features. After reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Jan Brett, students work with a partner to write a news...
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Retelling Information
This scripted instructional activity suggests using the journalist’s five W’s (who, what, when, where, why) to teach readers how to summarize a story and to how to distinguish between significant and supporting details. A template and...
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Sum It Up !!
Students practice various comprehension strategies to generate the main idea of the text. They encounter unfamiliar concepts and new vocabulary in their quest of the main idea in "Watson's Goes to Burmingham." The Five W's (What, Where,...
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Guess That Sequence!
Students explore number sense by completing problems in class. In this patterns instructional activity, students examine a group of numbers and identify what the pattern is and how it should correctly continue. Students practice...
Newseum
The Freedom to Make a Change
As part of a study of the First Amendment, young historians research instances when individuals or groups used the First Amendment to change the United State's laws or policies. Teams are each assigned a different case study. With the...
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Bears' House Vandalized, Witnesses say Blonde Girl Spotted Fleeing from the Scene!
Students approach a familiar story (Goldilocks and the Three Bears) from the perspective of a newspaper reporter. They apply the 5 W's + 1 H (Who, What, When, Where, Why and How).
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How the Test Was Won
Young scholars create 'Wanted' posters based around their state testing activities. In this state technology integration instructional activity, students take pictures of themselves in sepia tone in an Old West pose. Young scholars write...
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Summarization
Pupils summarize a selected piece of text using the five Ws. After reviewing the correct way to read silently, students read a selected piece of nonfiction text. They write a summary paragraph using a process outlined by the instructor.
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It's Raining Meatballs
Students observe and demonstrate the process of summarization using the book "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" by Judi Barrett. They silently read the story, and as a class discuss the five W's. Students then write a short summary of...
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Sensational Summarization!
Students observe and demonstrate a variety of summarization strategies. They silently read an article from National Geographic Kids, and as a class write a summary that includes the main idea and details and the five W's. Students then...
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Say W-W-W-W-Wh-at?
Students observe and demonstrate the process of summarizing text. As a class they read a paragraph and answer the five W's. Students then read an online paragraph, and complete a chart online, then in small groups write a short summary.
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What Am I Reading?
Students observe and demonstrate the process of summarizing text. As a class they read the first five pages of the book Sarah Plain and Tall by Sarah MacLachlan and answer the five W questions. Students then create five questions using...
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Summarization Safari
Young scholars summarize a piece of fiction text. After reviewing the correct way to question while reading, students independently read a short story. They complete a summary organizer using the five Ws outlined by the instructor during...