Reading: Comprehension
Making Predictions:
What Will Come Next?
Today's Snack: Since we're talking about "predictions" - telling
what's going to happen in advance - let's put a marshmallow on a half a graham
cracker, put it in the microwave on "high" for one minute, and before we hit
the start button, let's make a "prediction" on whether the size of that
marshmallow will change after one minute of heat. Will it be smaller? Will it
be bigger? How much bigger or smaller? Then watch what happens . . . and eat
the gooey results, washing it down with a predictably good-tasting glass of
cold milk.
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Supplies:
A short book to read
for fun
that you haven't read
before
Choose a partner for
this activity
For speedier comprehension, it helps to train
yourself to keep thinking at the same time that you are reading. It's good to
understand individual words within a sentence so that you know pretty quickly
what the sentence means. But it's GREAT if you can not only quickly and
accurately read a sentence, but before you come to the last word, you already
have a pretty good idea of what will happen next.
Paying attention as you read, and thinking about how
the next bit of information or action will connect back to what you've already
read, is a great reading skill. Besides, it's a lot of fun to guess . . . and
it's the most fun to guess right!
You would never waste time studying each word in each
sentence. That would be booooooooring. But it is a big help to your
understanding for you to keep your brain alert to the clues about what the
words mean, and what might happen next. We call that "considering the
implications." Things usually do progress in some kind of order in a story. You
can figure out what that order is, and enjoy your reading more!
What do we mean by "making predictions"? Well, it's a
skill that good readers use. "Predictions" are good guesses about a story based
on everything from how the cover of the book looks, to what has happened so
far, to what happened in other stories you've read by the same author, to the
style and pace of the writing, to the illustrations . . . many, many clues help
draw you through a story and follow the action.
Let's practice. First, read this sentence: "The mother duck jumped off the bank and
started swimming away, leaving her 10 ducklings on the shore."
Now, isn't your brain telling itself:
"Hey! She would never leave her babies. They will
probably jump in after her."
That's called "making a prediction." If you turned
the page of that book, chances are, you'd find out that THAT is exactly what
happened next!
It's OK if your predictions are 'way off base. The
whole idea is to get you actively thinking while you are reading. The more you
practice this skill, the closer your predictions will come to what actually
happens. It's just another reason why becoming a good reader is so much fun!
Now get with a partner and practice "The Rule of 3"
with a short book you haven't read before. Three times during this book - maybe
at the beginning, middle, and right before the end - stop, and ask yourself,
"What will happen next?" Tell your prediction aloud to your partner, and why
you're making that prediction. Then listen to your partner's prediction. Then
read . . . and see if either of you was right!
