Predict What Will Happen; Use Text to Confirm

Under Comprehension on the CAFÉ menu, I teach predict what will happen; use text to confirm early in the year. Teaching students to predict is something that students catch on to very fast. I find that they sometimes begin to use the strategy too much… every time I read a page of a story someone raises their hand to share their prediction. Although making predictions may be easy, teaching primary students to confirm predictions based on the text becomes a little trickier. We must teach students to look back to see if the prediction was true, partially true, or way off.

Explaining the Strategy:

“Based on what you have read, what do you think will happen next?”

“What from the story helped you make that prediction?”

“What from the story tells you your prediction is true/partially true/way off?”

Ideas for Teaching:

• Model this strategy during your interactive read-aloud. Tell students your predictions and what from the text helped you make that prediction. After reading a little more, return to your prediction to decide if your prediction was true, partially true, or way off.
• After modeling how to predict, have students work in pairs. Ask one partner to look at the text and predict what will happen. The partners then read the text together. The second partner finds places in the selection that can prove whether the prediction was true, partially true, or way off.

Helpful Websites:

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/doesn-have-that-using-87.html

Here is a lesson where the students make predictions through their illustrations.

http://www.readinglady.com/mosaic/tools/Prediction%20handout%20by%20Deb%20Smith.pdf

This is examples on how to teach predictions from the book, Reading With Meaning.

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/first_lines

This website teaches students to use predictions as a pre-reading strategy.

Supporting Picture Books:

Henkes, K. (1986). A weekend with Wendell. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

Steig, W. (1986). Brave Irene. West Melbourne, FL: Sunburst Books, Inc.

Henkes, K. (2006) Lilly’s big day. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

Alsenas, L. (2007). Peanut. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

Professional Resources:

Boushey, G., & Moser, J. (2009). The cafe book. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Miller, D. (2002). Reading with meaning. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.