This week, the girls received their Ask Me About My Reading page. It’s a pink page, and will be kept in their Fillteán Obair Bhaile/Homework Folder.
This page is designed to encourage the students to engage with their reading, and can be used for their Library book or class reader. It is hoped that the students will develop their comprehension skills by practising recalling, summarising, predicting, making connections, and answering questions about the setting or plot. The girls are particularly excited about the imaginative questions in Section E.
Most days, for homework, they will be asked answer two questions, eg one from Section A, one from Section E. Parents get to choose which questions they will ask from the relevant section.
This is oral homework. No need to write anything.
I hope you’ll enjoy the literary discussions that ensue!
Anita Walshe
Ask me about my reading! Ainm ___________________
A – Recall and prediction
1 What happened in what you read today/so far?
2 What 5/10 words would you need to summarise what you read?
3 Tell the story from the perspective of one of the characters.
4 What do you think will happen next?
5 What do you think the character will think/say/do next?
6 What alternative ending can you imagine?
B – Making connections
7 Has something in this story ever happened to you, or someone you know?
8 Has something in this story happened in a film you’ve seen or a story you’ve read before?
9 Have you ever encountered another film/book character like one in this story?
10 Is there someone you know that resembles (looks like/acts like) a character in this story?
C – Setting
11 Where and when did this story happen?
12 Would anything be different about the story if it was set in the past (how long ago?) or in the future (how far in the future)?
13 What would be different about this story if it happened in your house/ Belgrove/ Dublin/ Ireland?
14 What setting would you love to see this story happen in?
D – Plots and problems
15 What is the plot (problem) in the story?
16 If this was a plotless story, what would it sound like?
17 Would you have reacted to that problem in a different way?
18 What happened to make the problem worse?
E – Imaginative questions about characters
19 What do you most like/dislike about a character from your reading?
20 If a character from your reading went on holidays, where would they go, and why?
21 What would be the character’s favourite game or hobby, and why?
22 If your character could read any book, which would they most enjoy, and why?
23 If a character could have a pet, which one would they most like, and why?
24 If a character could have any super power, what would it be?
25 What would a character from your reading bring on holiday in their suitcase?
26 What film/book would your character most enjoy, and why?
27 What job would they most like to have, and why?
28 What job would they be terrible at, and why?
29 What do you think the character looks like?
30 If you removed this character, how would the story change?
31 If you substituted a character from another story, how would the book change?
32 If you could choose any character to be your best friend, who would you choose?
33 If your character had a best friend from another book, who would it be?
34 If your character could eat only one thing for the rest of their life, what would it be, and why?
35 Which character from your reading would be most likely to appear on tv? Which show, and why?
36 What reason would your character have for not having their homework done?
37 If you could give advice to any character, what would you say?
38 If this character could turn into any animal, what would they most like to be?
39 If your character had a favourite sport/dance/music style, what would it be?
40 What would be the worst present this character could possibly receive, and why?
41 What character from another book would your character most like to meet, and why?
42 If your character appeared in the newspaper, what would be the reason?
43 If your character created a company, what would it be, and what would it do?
44 What would your character do if they won the lottery?
45 If your character came to Room 9 for the day, what would they enjoy most? What would they enjoy least?
46 What does your character eat?
47 What does your character dream about?
48 What would you hear your character say?
49 What feeling/thought/wish does your character keep inside?
50 What invention would your character most like to create?
51 If they’d two wishes, what would they wish for?
