a project on 'WH' Questions
In this project, students can practice SUBJECT & OBJECT QUESTIONS by creating a set of them for a game show.
Family Feud is a game about questions based on opinion or expectations that are asked in a survey before the show. Contestant must respond not with their own opinions and expectations, but with guesses as to which answers were common or popular. We’ll get into more of the specifics later.
Teams of students must create questions, conduct a survey, then participate in a quiz based on questions that other teams wrote.
Write the Questions
Divide your class(es) into three or more groups. There should be four to six students in each group.
Each group should come up with ten questions that have multiple acceptable answers, and answers that may vary depending on whom you ask. For instance, “What is the capitol of Brazil?” is not a valid question since it has only one correct answer. Questions that are personalized are not allowed either, so don’t ask “What is your cat’s name?” or any questions involving the word ‘favorite’ or ‘best’. Any scenarios must be universal, and if the for ‘you’ is used, it must be the generic form (meaning ‘one’/’someone’/’somebody’, not a reference to the second person).
In the traditional game, many questions begin with some variation of “Name something that…” (which technically is not a question). For the purposes of our game, omit that part and form the sentences as ‘WH’ questions.
Some examples of good questions are “Where do teenagers go shopping?” or “What food is green?” If you’d like to give yous students extra practice, have them write sample answers as full questions (e.g.: “Teenagers go shopping at clothing stores,” or “Broccoli is green.”
Conduct a Survey
Teams should then ask their questions to others who are not in their class. Select a set amount of people that need to be asked, such as 100 or 50. Students can break off individually or in pairs to better distribute the work. This part is probably best done as homework. Perhaps students can ask other schoolmates between classes.
The people surveyed should understand that there are multiple acceptable answers, but they should say only one – the one that comes to their mind first. If students prefer, they can place a tick mark next to answers that were already given and only write down new answers.
When the survey is finished, teams need to compile the results. Write down the answers and the number of people that gave each answer, and list them in order or popularity. For example:
- Peppers, 27
- Broccoli, 22
- Spinach, 18
- Cucumber, 17
- Green Beans, 13
- Okra, 3
Only list the top 8 answers (minimum 4), and don’t list any answers given by only 1 person.
Play the Game!
After teams have submitted their results, play a few games of Family Feud! Each game should have two opposing teams addressing questions that were submitted by a third team. Check out the rules here, although you’re welcome to change the rules in order to shorten the game or simplify the instructions (as long as you stay consistent).
Again, if you want to give your students extra practice, have them answer in full sentences. But most importantly, have fun!
For sample questions and instructions for the play-at-home version, read this.
Check out Insights’s Question Forms Series to view our videos on WH Questions and related topics. In these videos, we share innovative teaching methods to make it easier for students to understand and remember grammar points.
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