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Teaching when questions for speech therapy intervention can be a challenge, especially when there is never enough time in your day to plan effective therapy. I’m here to simplify your therapy by giving you an easy-to-follow plan when it comes to teaching when questions.

After reading this post, you will have a structured speech therapy intervention plan for teaching when questions that you can implement tomorrow. Here is an overview of the 5 steps that will make you the expert at your school when it comes to writing and addressing those when question IEP goals.

• Step 1: Start with pre-intervention data collection for when questions.

• Step 2: Analyze the data from Step 1 to determine where to start your intervention.

• Step 3: Using the information from Step 2, write your student’s speech therapy goals.

• Step 4: Implement therapy.

• Step 5: Complete your post-intervention data collection.

 

Note: This easy 5-step process is included in my When Questions Flashcards resource. If you would like to skip the rest of this article and jump right into your intervention, click the picture below.

Step 1. Start with pre-intervention data collection for when questions.

Determining IEP goals and planning speech therapy intervention depends upon knowing how the student is currently performing with a specific skill. Using an informal WH question test for data collection in speech therapy is a must.

If you don’t have a data collection tool for WH or WHEN questions, don’t worry. Download my FREE WH Questions Baseline Assessment today!

Here is a completed when questions baseline from my wh questions for speech therapy resource.

Step 2. Analyze the data from Step 1 to determine where to start your intervention.

Knowing where to start when questions speech therapy intervention can sometimes be tricky. After completing the baseline assessment from step 1, use this free flow chart to help you analyze your data. This will help you determine your therapy plan.

If you would like a free copy of this flow chart, click on the picture above and print.

There are four columns on the flow chart. Here is what each column means.

• Left Column: Focus on teaching prelinguistic skills and building receptive language.
• Left Middle Column: Work on teaching early developing WH questions- who, what, where.

• Right Middle Column: Work on teaching when questions.

• Right Column: Work on increasing vocabulary. Making IEP accommodations might also be appropriate.

Step 3. Write your student’s speech therapy goals based on the information from step 2.

First, keep in mind normal WHEN question development.

For planning when question speech therapy goals, it is important to keep in mind normal when question development. Here are the norms that I use from the resource Guide to Communication Milestones (Lanza, J. R. & Flahive, L. K., 2012).

WHEN Question Development

• Answers WHEN questions: 4 years of age.

Keep in mind that this norm is most likely referring to simple when questions that don’t require a great deal of background knowledge.

Then, determine a starting point for speech therapy intervention.

Using the flow chart from step 2, while keeping in mind normal when question development, determine your IEP goals.

1. Left Column: Focus on prelinguistic goals and receptive language goals. If your student is on this side of the flow chart, you should not introduce when questions.

Prelinguistic Goal for Joint Attention: The student will demonstrate joint attention in 8/10 trials when the adult points to/shows an object or talks about an immediate event (something that is happening in the child’s present environment).

Click here for more information on joint attention.

Prelinguistic Goal for Attending: The student will attend to a reading and/or play activity for ___ minutes with minimal adult support in 4/5 trials.

Receptive Language Goal for WH Questions (Play Based): The student will respond to WHO, WHAT, and/or WHERE questions during a play activity in 8/10 trials by pointing.

Early Developing WH Questions Goal (Skill Based): The student will answer basic WHO, WHAT, and/or WHERE questions by pointing to or stating the answer with 80% accuracy. (i.e., Where is your nose? What is this?)

2. Left Middle Column: Focus on teaching early developing wh questions- who, what, where. After these questions are mastered, move on to when questions.

WHO Questions Speech Therapy Goal: The student will answer WHO questions with 80% accuracy when picture choices are presented.

WHO Questions Speech Therapy Goal: The student will answer WHO questions with 80% accuracy. (no picture choices)

WHAT Questions Speech Therapy Goal: The student will answer WHAT questions with 80% accuracy when picture choices are presented.

WHAT Questions Speech Therapy Goal: The student will answer WHAT questions with 80% accuracy. (no picture choices)

WHERE Questions Speech Therapy Goal: The student will answer WHERE questions with 80% accuracy when picture choices are presented.

WHERE Questions Speech Therapy Goal: The student will answer WHERE questions with 80% accuracy. (no picture choices)

3. Right Middle Column: Focus on teaching when questions.

Although you can get very detailed with your IEP goals, I recommend keeping things simple. It’s important that other team members understand the student’s goals. Here are two simple when questions example goals.

WHEN Questions Goal: The student will answer WHEN questions with 80% accuracy when picture choices are presented.

WHEN Questions Goal: The student will answer WHEN questions with 80% accuracy. (no picture choices)

If your student is working on generalizing when questions to conversational and reading comprehension tasks, these are some suggestions.

WHEN Questions Conversational Speech Therapy Goal: The student will answer WHEN questions during conversation with 80% accuracy.

WHEN Questions Reading Comprehension Speech Therapy Goal: The student will answer WHEN questions for reading comprehension tasks with 80% accuracy.

4. Right Column: Increasing vocabulary to support answering when questions might be the best course of treatment. Considering IEP accommodations for addressing language complexity might also be appropriate.

You might find that it is more appropriate to focus on accommodations and modifications to decrease the barriers that might exist when answering questions. Here is a list of possible accommodations and modifications.

• Simplify questions by decreasing the amount of complex language used in the question.

• Supplement your verbal question with a picture scene or picture cue.

• Give the student visual or verbal choices of answers.

Step 4. Implement therapy.

Now that you have your student’s IEP goals written, it’s time to get your speech therapy intervention tools ready. You might already have a resource that works well for addressing when question goals. However, if you are looking for a more comprehensive resource for teaching when questions, I have created a set of when questions flashcards that you can purchase. The flashcards featured in this section are from that resource.

First, teach the skill.

Explicit Instruction

Consider starting with explicit instruction when teaching a student to answer when questions. This is how I begin each session. There is research in the area of grammar intervention that suggests combining explicit instruction with implicit instruction is more efficient than just implicit instruction alone. (Calder, S.D., Claessen, M., Ebbels, S. & Leitao, S., 2020)

Directly teach your students that when they hear the word when in a question it refers to an event, time, or reason for doing something.

Then, practice the skill.

There isn’t much research that I’ve come across in regards to a hierarchy for how to teach when questions. The following is based on my clinical experience and what I’ve found to be effective in teaching when questions for speech therapy intervention. Although this learning ladder provides a general hierarchy, you should always consider the student’s language profile when planning intervention.

Note: I only practice when questions with elementary-age students (5K+). When questions require higher level language skills to answer because the questions/answers require more abstract thinking than early developing WH questions (who, what, where). Instead of focusing on concrete objects or people, as we do with early developing WH questions, many when questions/answers are based upon the understanding of cultural norms, time, or the reasons we demonstrate certain behaviors.

Here is the scope and sequence of my when questions flashcard resource.

If the student is old enough, I use flashcards between turns of an open-ended game. The game motivates students to participate in a flashcard activity that would otherwise be a nonpreferred task. 

1. Basic-Intermediate When Questions

If your student does not need to work on foundational WH question skills, start with basic-intermediate when questions. (These WH question examples are from sets 1-4 of my when questions flashcards resource.) If your student can already answer intermediate when questions, move on to advanced when questions.

For the basic-intermediate level of when questions, I decided to start with when questions that refer to events. I then proceeded to when questions that focus on time. In reality, there isn’t that much of a divide in complexity between the two types of when questions. You might find that sets 3 and 4 are easier for some students than sets 1 and 2.

Examples: When do you open presents? When is your birthday?

Prerequisite Skills: The student needs to understand cultural norms and time.

First, I start by using flashcards with picture choices. Before moving on to the next set of cards, I might use these cards again but not show the picture choices. If the student has difficulty answering the question, I show the picture choices.

Although the research is mixed on the efficacy of using picture choices to teach questions, I find that pictures minimize frustration with teaching when questions. It is a perfect strategy for students who need to take baby steps when learning a new skill.

Then, I move on to flashcards without picture choices.

2. Advanced When Questions

Next, address when questions that require the student to state a reason. (This WH question example is from sets 5-6 of the when questions flashcards resource.)

Example: When do you go to the doctor?

Prerequisite Skills: The student needs to understand the reason we demonstrate certain behaviors.

Step 5. Complete your post-intervention data collection.

When your session data suggests that the student has learned how to answer when questions, update the original baseline assessment. This provides you with data to report at the IEP meeting and/or on the progress report. If the student has met his or her goal, move on to the next skill.

What is the ultimate goal for working on when questions?

It is important to note that during this process of teaching when questions for speech therapy, it’s essential to incorporate when questions into conversational and read-aloud activities. This is the overarching goal of working on questions- to be able to participate in a conversation and answer questions for academic tasks.

If you are unsure of what your student’s accuracy is with answering WH and WHEN questions, get a free baseline tool . This will help you determine where you should start with intervention.

Wondering where you can get the WH question examples featured in this post? Get your own set of when question flashcards to complement your therapy at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Other Related Posts:

4 Things To Consider Before Writing Speech Therapy WH Question Goals

5 Steps for Effectively Teaching Who Questions for Speech Therapy

5 Steps for Effectively Teaching What Questions in Speech Therapy

5 Simple Steps for Teaching Where Questions for Speech Therapy

 

Resources:

Calder, S.D., Claessen, M., Ebbels, S., & Leitão, S. (2020). Explicit grammar intervention in young school-aged children with developmental language disorder: An efficacy study using single-case experimental design. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_LSHSS-19-00060

Calder, S. D., Claessen, M., Ebbels, S., & Leitão, S. (2020). The efficacy of an explicit intervention approach to improve past tense marking for early school-age children with developmental language disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00132

Ebbels, S., & Owen Van Horne, A. (2020). Grammatical concepts of English: Suggested order of intervention. The Informed SLP. https://www.theinformedslp.com/review/the-grammar-guide-you-never-knew-you-always-wanted

Gaertner et al., (2008) Focused Attention in Toddlers: Measurement, Stability, and Relations to Negative Emotion and Parenting. Journal of Infant Child Development. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2607062/pdf/nihms-81608.pdf

Lanza, J. R. & Flahive, L. K. (2012) Guide to Communication Milestones. LinguiSystems. (https://www.carolinatherapeutics.com/wp-content/uploads/milestones-guide.pdf)