Wh Questions: Why? Speech and Education Cards is an app that was created by speech language pathologists and contains professional illustrations and scenes with educational content. The app includes 30 scenes which gives you at least 30 different opportunities for answering 30 “why” questions. The app is free but only includes a select amount of pictures. To buy the additional set, an in app purchase is available. Bluebee Pals motivate kids for the Why questions.
This app is appropriate for both children who are typical ages 3 and up and can also benefit those individuals with speech and language disorders and delays.Since the questions are read to the reader (as an option in the setting), no reading is required to use the app functionally. The goals that the authors target with this app are the following: Cause and Effect Relationship, Receptive and Expressive Language Skills, Naming Actions and Describing Situations, Answering Wh Questions, Making Logical Conclusions and Reasoning by Using Hints and Creative Thinking.
There are a variety of ways that you can use this app successfully and creatively with Bluebee Pal. This activity can done in a small group or in an individual session with a student. I like to discuss this exercise in a small speech and language group that is common in schools.
1. Connect your Bluebee Pal pro to your iPad or tablet.
2. Have each student take a turn with Bluebee Pal “asking” why questions to each student. Hearing “Why” questions from Bluebee Pal will make them more motivated to engage in the exercise and increase motivation. Since the app begins recording right after the question is asked, there is no need to have a student learn how to press record, etc. The answer is read back as well and can be adjusted in the settings menu. This automatic playback is good for improving auditory comprehension and recall.
3. Since this app is not just limited by “why” questions feel free to make up your own “wh” questions and have the students record the answers. To make this a writing activity, take screen shots and have the student write the answers on the paper directly to incorporate additional skills.