Many students on my caseload have language difficulties
impacting their ability to answer simple questions — a deficit
that has the potential for considerable effects on a student’s
ability to perform successfully in their educational
environment. Think about a typical classroom activity, and the
types of things a teacher might say…odds are pretty good that a
majority of a teacher’s utterances involve a simple or higher
level wh question word (what, where, who, when, why, how, what
if?) Reading comprehension is especially dependent on these
powerful words (Who is the main character? What happened at the
end of the story? Why did they make that decision? What do you
think will happen next? Where did the story take place?) Math is
also tied to these questions (What is the first step? When do
you combine groups?) Because teachers continually elicit
responses and assess skills, questions are routinely asked and
answered in the classroom. Students with wh question
difficulties need training on exactly what the ind