The Value of Asking the Right Questions

This week in a Year 7 Library Lesson we were working on a project that involves creating a newspaper-style report on a book of their choice.

When I finished the explanation of the tasks the students had, I asked if there were any questions. There were none, so they started the activity.

I went around and asked students which book they were going to choose and provided some encouragement, overall it was going well.

I approached a table of four boys, one of them had not started the activity. I asked him which book he was going to choose, he replied "None."

I asked him why, he said "I don't read, I hate reading."

I've heard this before, but not with this much conviction. I went through a list of books that he might possibly enjoy, he turned his nose up at all of them.

"What's your favourite tv show?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I just watch YouTube clips."

"What's your favourite sport?"

Another shrug, "football, but, I dunno," he said.

"What's your favourite video game?" I asked.

"Fortnite," he said.

"Fortnite is sick!" Another boy said. The rest of the boys agreed wholeheartedly.

"What's Fortnite?" I asked.

The boy then lit up and suddenly came alive as he described to me how it was an online game where four players work together to complete missions. The Earth has been essentially destroyed by the worst storm ever imagined, and you have to work together to survive.

The three other boys then told me even more about how great the game is and how to play it.

"So what are you reading right now, then?" I asked the boy.

He pointed to a horror book and said, "but I don't actually read it, I just look at the pages."

"How about I find you a book where people have to survive, kind of like in Fortnite?"

He nodded, so I went off to find a book called Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne, but all of our copies were out.

I then found Survivor by Tom Hoyle. I explained to him that it was about an adventure camp where everyone starts to get killed and survival becomes the only mission. He snatched it out of my hands and started to read it.

I told him that when he comes back for his next Library Lesson I was going to quiz him on it, he agreed.

If he sticks with it, great. If not, I'll get him another book, the important thing is that I've found his type of book and will keep pushing them on him until something sticks.

It reminded me of the importance of asking all kinds of questions regarding likes and dislikes, not just "What books do you like?"

This interaction has also inspired me to do a little research on the game and to create a list of "30 Books to Read if You Love Fortnite".




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