Listening and putting words in order
When you listen, first catch the main idea, then listen again for details. The question word tells you what to listen for: when asks for a time, where for a place, who for a person, what for a thing, how many for a number. Now word order. A statement goes: who, then the verb, then the rest, and the time word is often last: She goes to school every day. In a question the helper do or does comes after the question word, and the verb stays short: What time do you wake up? Where does she live? For an action happening now we use am, is or are with -ing: They are playing football in the park. To fix a jumbled sentence, find the verb first, then the person, then the rest.
| Question word | Listen for | Example answer |
|---|---|---|
| What | a thing | a football |
| When | a time | at four o’clock |
| Where | a place | in the park |
| Who | a person | my cousin |
| How many | a number | three |
My cousin Hesham lives in Tanta. He is twelve years old. After school he usually plays table tennis with his brother. On Thursdays he goes to the swimming pool at four o’clock. He likes science, but his favourite lesson is art. At the moment he is learning to draw faces. He wants to win a prize at the school art show.
| Who | Verb | Where | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| She | goes | to school | every day |
| Hesham | plays | table tennis | after school |
| Question word | do / does | Who | Verb | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What time | do | you | wake up | ? |
| Where | does | Hesham | swim | ? |
Jumble cards. Write each word of three sentences on a small paper. Mix the papers of one sentence, and let the child put them in order. Then the child mixes a sentence for the grown-up.
…
…