Minds On
How do we make predictions?
Student Success
Think-Pair-Share
Imagine you were asked to design the cover for a book titled The Book of Past, Present and Future Invention.
- How would you design the cover?
- Can you predict what the book may be about from the title?
- How might your cover design help the reader predict what will happen in the story?
If possible, discuss your thoughts with a partner.
Note to teachers: See your teacher guide for collaboration tools, ideas and suggestions.
We can guess what might happen in a story before, during, and after reading. This is called making predictions.
Before reading: We can examine the title and any illustrations on the cover and predict what the story is about.
During reading: We can predict the future events in the plot.
After reading: We can reflect on the ideas in the text and check our predictions.
Making predictions is a reading strategy which helps us to learn from and understand a text.
Action
Making predictions before we read
Let's make some predictions before reading or exploring a text.
Consider the following title: “The Garden of Kind”
Student Success
Think-Pair-Share
Consider the following questions:
- What do you think this story will be about?
- What words or phrases might be in this story?
- What or who do you predict will be in this story?
- What do you predict will happen in this story?
Note to teachers: See your teacher guide for collaboration tools, ideas and suggestions.
Complete the Think-Pair-Share Prediction Activity in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document.
Press the Activity button to access the Think-Pair-Share Prediction Activity.
Activity (Open PDF in a new tab)| Ask Yourself | My Prediction |
|---|---|
| What do you think this book will be about? | |
| What words or phrases might be in this book? | |
| What or who do you predict will be in this book? | |
| What do you predict will happen in this book? |
Consolidation
Making predictions as we read
Making Predictions
Let's make some predictions based on the following title. These are predictions we make before reading or exploring a text.
Explore the text "Travelling Seeds" or select and explore a text of your choice.
While you explore the text, practice making predictions. You can use the following questions to guide you:
- What do you think this story will be about?
- What words or phrases might be in this story?
- What or who do you predict will be in this story?
- What do you predict will happen in this story?
As you explore the text, use details from the text to support your predictions. Some of your predictions might change based on the information in the text.
The following component is not optimized for a non-visual experience. A transcript is available.
Complete the Predict & Reflect Activity in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document.
Press the Activity button to access the Predict & Reflect Activity.
Activity (Open PDF in a new tab)| Prediction | Confirm or Change Predictions | Clues from the Text |
|---|---|---|
Reflecting on our predictions
Reflecting on your learning will help you to become a better reader. Reflect on how making predictions helped you to better understand, learn from, and connect with the text.
Complete the Reflection Activity – Making Predictions in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document.
Press the Activity button to access the Reflection Activity – Making Predictions.
Activity (Open PDF in a new tab)|
Making predictions helped me to better understand, learn from, and connect with the text in the following ways: 1. 2. 3. |
Reflection
How do you feel about what you have learned in this activity? Which of the next four sentences best matches how you are feeling about your learning? Press the button that is beside this sentence.
I feel...
Now, record your ideas about your feelings using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.