The Five W’s

This is an excellent idea that can be easily adapted for a variety of lesson situations, helping to ensure students are engaged and that their notes are structured and focused.

Last week I was lucky enough to spend half an hour watching one of the excellent History teachers at our school in action, and I was really impressed with this idea and wanted to share it with you all. It can be adapted for a variety of situations and subjects.

The 5 W's are:

1. Who
2. What
3. When
4. Why
5. Where

During this lesson, the concept was used in 2 different ways:

1. Watching a video as an introduction to the lesson: Students were learning about the conflict in Serbia, but they didn't yet know that. They were shown a video interview with a survivor of the conflict and had to make notes on the 5 W's in order to identify what the topic and objectives of the lesson were.

2. As part of a group work activity, students were given information about different groups of people involved in the conflict. The students had to read through their information and identify those 5 W's, before then sharing them with the rest of the class.

In Business and Economics lessons, we regularly watch short BBC news videos and read newspaper articles- so I can think of loads of excellent situations where I could use this activity. In particular, I can see how it helps to focus students' attention when they're watching or reading.

Thank you Hayley!

Why not give this a go in your classroom?