When is it a
WHEN
word?
Created by Ellen Weber, Ed.S., CCC-SLP
2008
Lots of words and phrases answer WHEN questions. They tell us about time.
A day is the time it takes for the sun and the moon to go up and down once. Each day is made up of 24 hours. It takes about 24 hours for the sun and moon to go up and down one time.
There are four parts to our “day”. Each part has its own name.
These three parts are
called “daytime”. These
are the parts of the day
when it is light outside.
After the sun goes
down, and it is dark
outside, we call it
“nighttime.”
We keep track of the days by
using a calendar.
Special days are called “holidays”.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are two holidays.
A calendar also shows us that there are 7 days in one week. Each day has its own name.
When the week is over, we start a new week and go through all seven days again.
When we look at the calendar, weeks are grouped into months. A month is 28 to 30 days, or about 4 weeks.
This kind of calendar shows one month on each page. There are 12 months in one year, so there are 12 pages to this calendar. Each month has its own name:
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. When we get to the end of the last month, December, we start a new year and begin again with January.
We can also break up the year into seasons. A season actually is a time when the weather changes. In our part of the world, we have four seasons. Each season is about three months long.
winter fall
summer spring
These words name different time concepts. There are other words that answer WHEN questions. They are describing words that tell us when something happened or will happen, or how often or for how long.
before, after
first, second, third, …, next, last, finally
beginning, middle, ending
early/earlier, late/later, soon, now
yesterday, today, tomorrow
always, often, sometimes, never
since ___, every ____
Let’s practice finding the part of a sentence that tells us about time….
1. Before I can play, I have to do my work.
2. I can play after I finish my work.
3. When you make pizza, put the sauce on first, then put on the cheese.
4. The monster appeared right in the beginning of the movie.
5. I was in the middle of a good book when the phone rang.
6. My class starts at 7:00, but I like to get there early.
7. Marco was late for class.
8. I’ll be finished with my work soon.
9. My mother never lets me go to the store by myself.
10. Sometimes my cousins come over and we play soccer.
11. I’ve had a toothache since I ate that candy.
12. We go to the park every Sunday.