State and Model the Objective
Tell the children that they will read and write words that begin with the letters wh, such as whir, whoop, whelp, whimper, wheeze, whiff, whump, whiz, whip, whine, whirl, and whisk.

Literacy Activities
Act out wh words

• Write the wh digraph and explain that it makes the /w/ sound.
• List words for actions and noises that begin with wh (e.g., whine, whisper, whirl, whip, whisk, whiff, whir, whimper, and whistle).
• Act out the action words or give examples of the words.

Pantomime commands with wh- words

• Display commands with wh- words and show the children how to make or pantomime the actions:
  • Whistle while you whirl around.
  • Whittle some wood.
  • Whisk and whip some eggs.
  • Wheel and whip around on one foot.
  • Whine and whimper like a dog for a treat
  • Whack a Wiffle ball.
  • Ride a whinnying horse and tell it “whoa.”

Ask wh- questions about the children’s lives

• Display the sentence strips (found below) that use wh- words and read them to the children:
  • Why do you whine?
  • When do you whisper?
  • Why do you whisper?
  • What does a whimper sound like?
  • Why would you whimper?
  • When and why would you whirl, whir, and whiz around?
  • What would you like to take a whiff of?
  • When would you whip or whisk something?
  • Would you whip or whisk up whipped cream?
• Have the children pair up to ask each other the questions.

Read a text with wh- words

• Read the target text When and Where Do We Do Things? (found below) with the children.
• Display the text and ask the children to identify words that begin with wh.
• Tell the children that the word wacky can be spelled two ways: whacky and wacky.
• Explain that spelling wacky is more common but that you all will be using the wh- spelling because you want to practice the /wh/ sound.
• Read Whack a Wiffle Ball (found below) to and with the children.

Compare words that begin with wh and w

• Display some wh- words (e.g., whistle, whimper, whisk) and some w- words (e.g., work, wonder, wave).
• Compare a word that begins with the letter w (e.g., wave) with a word that begins with the letters wh (e.g., whale).
• Indicate that both words with wh and w both have the /w/ sound.
• Display the When, Where, and Why? text and read it to the children.
• Read the text again and have the children identify words that begin with w and wh.

Write about the activity using target words

• Have the children write a few sentences using /wh/ words written on the board.
• Invite the children to write questions using wh- words (when, what, where, and why) and other wh- words dealing with actions (whirl, whisper, whimper, whisk, whine, whack, wheeze, whip, whiz, whiff, whistle, whack, whirl, whir, and whomp).