Examples of questions at Blank Level 3 – Talking about stories and events
What are Blank Levels?
Your child is learning to recall events, scenarios and sequences, and to do simple predictions. Below are examples of questions at this level. Try to match your questions to what your child is doing.
Literacy or English literature
- Summarise information such as ‘What happened to X?’
- Choose a suitable title or name for a story such as ‘What can you call your story?’
- Retell a short sequence of events or a story such as ‘Tell me what happened’. This is much easier for a child to give a recount immediately after hearing it. Gradually increase the time lag between hearing and recounting the events.
- Identify what a character might think or say about a situation in the story such as ‘What was the boy thinking?’ and ‘What did his mum say?’
- Identify how a character might feel in a situation such as ‘How was the boy feeling?’
- Make a simple prediction about what might happen next. For some young people this will be extremely hard, so you can support them by:
- Retelling the sequence of events so far for them
- Highlighting the critical elements of the events
- Linking the event in the story to the young person’s personal experience
- Define words such as ‘What does suspicious mean?’
Maths
- Identify items that could fit a certain category with specific criteria
- Identify what other items could not fit into a given category
- Understand a series of instructions to complete a sum
- Explain how to complete a sum or mathematical application
- Define words and symbols
Science
- Recount in a sequence the steps taking in an investigation or experiment. The task will be easier if the young person has the materials in front of them to give them a visual reminder. Support them by either:
- Giving the information in sequence strips or photos for them to correctly organise
- Giving alternatives such as ‘Do you do X or Y next’
- Giving a prompt such as ‘What happened after you did X?’ for each step
- Name something that’s in the category but has an exception such as ‘Which bird cannot fly?’, or an organ of the body that’s not internal, or a gas that is not toxic, and so on
- Name something that does not fit the category such as ‘Which of these materials is rigid but not transparent?’
- Predict the outcome of the investigation. This prediction must be obvious such as ‘This slope has a rough surface. How fast will the car go?’
- Define words and technical terms such as ‘What does transparent mean?’
Technology
- Recount the steps taken to make something. The task will be easier if the young person has the materials in front of them to give them a visual reminder. Support them by either:
- Giving photos for the young person to organise correctly
- Giving alternatives such as ‘Did you do X or Y next? or a prompt ‘What happened after your did X?’ for each step
- Name something that is in the category but has an exception such as ‘a tool that cuts but does not have 2 blades’
- Name something that is not in the category
- Predict the outcome
- Define words and technical terms

Geography
- Name something that’s in the category, but has an exception such as ‘which church is not in a village?’ mountain ranges not in Europe or not above 15,000ft
- Name something that does not fit the category, such as ‘which of these coloured lines does not represent a road?’
- Recounts in sequence anything that is a step-by-step event such as ‘which roads would you walk along to get from the post office to the school?, cloud formation or rainfall or rock formations and so on. The task will be easier if the young person has the materials or pictures are in front of them to give them a visual reminder. Support the organisation of thought by:
- supplying the information (sentence strips or photos) for them to correctly organise
- giving alternatives such as ‘does X or Y happen next?’ or prompts ‘what happens after X?’ for each step
- Predict the outcome of a course of action such as ‘If the river floods which house will get wet?’
- Define words and technical terms such as ‘what are flood defences?’
History
- Summarise information
- Retell a short sequence of a historical event. It is much easier for the young person to give a recount immediately after hearing it (gradually increase the time lag between hearing and recounting the events)
- Identify what a historical figure might have thought or said about a situation
- Identify how people might have felt in a situation such as children in a Victorian school
- Make a simple prediction about what might have happened next. For some this will be extremely hard, support them by:
- Retelling the sequence of events so far
- Highlighting the critical elements of the event
- Link the event to the young person’s personal experience
- Define words such as ‘what does aggressor mean?’, hyperinflation, propaganda, dictator and so on
Home corner
- Give teddy a drink and then give dolly some cake
- Tell me how to make a sandwich
- Teddy wants a cup of tea. What does he say?
- Teddy is eating dolly’s cake. How does dolly feel?
Water play
- Catch a fish and put it in a bucket
- Find me something that lives in the water that does not have feet
- What is a frog?
- Baby duck is lost, what does he say? How does he feel?
Snack time
- Which food on your plate is not fruit?
- What does ‘healthy’ mean?
- How do we eat a banana?
- What happens after a snack?
Farm
- Put the pig in the tractor and the horse in the barn
- The farmer’s dog is hiding. How does the farmer feel? What does the farmer say?
- Find me an animal that does not live on the farm
- What does ‘harvest’ mean?
Outside play
- Run and touch the fence and then bring the hoop to me. Ready, steady, go!
- Find me something that you can play with that does not bounce
- What does ‘safe’ mean?
- Tell me how to play the game
Playdough
- Roll out the playdough and then find me the circle cutter
- Tell me how you made your sausages and stars
- What might happen to the playdough next? (when putting playdough through a press and so on)
- What does ‘smooth’ mean?
Sandpit
- Find me the digger and then hide it under the sand
- Tell me how to make a sandcastle
- What might happen next? (as you lift the bucket up to reveal the sandcastle)
- I like your shells for decoration. What does decoration mean?
Story
- Tell me the story
- What might happen next?
- How does Alice feel?
- What happens at the beginning and the end?
Dolls house
- Make the girl hide under the bed and the boy hide in the bath
- The boy is jumping on the table. What might happen next? What might mum say?
- What does ‘worried’ mean?
Car mat and garage
- The car has arrived at the garage. What happens next?
- Find me something else we can drive that is not a car
- The car will not start. What does the driver say? How does the driver feel?
- What does frustrated mean?
For more information please contact the Speech and Language Therapy Service at Flockton House.
Telephone: 0114 226 2333
Email: scn-tr.slt-sheffield@nhs.net
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Disclaimer
Please note: this is a generic information sheet relating to care at Sheffield Children’s NHS FT. These details may not reflect treatment at other hospitals. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical care. Always follow your healthcare professionals’ instructions. If this resource relates to medicines, please read it alongside the medicine manufacturer’s patient information leaflet. If this information has been translated into another language from English, efforts have been made to maintain accuracy, but there may still be some translation errors. If you are unsure about any of the guidance in this resource or have specific questions about how it relates to your child, always ask your healthcare professional for further advice.