Making PredictionsMaking PredictionsMaking PredictionsMaking Predictions

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What is a prediction?

A prediction is what you think will happen based on what you’ve discovered in your

reading.

How do I make predictions?

• First, use information that you already know. This is also called background information or prior knowledge.

• Second, use what the author is telling you.

Let’s try it!

Read the short writing on the next slide. Based on what you learn in the example as well as what you already know, make a prediction

about what will happen next.

John, Ann, and George were playing in the backyard when their mother called them in for dinner. They were very hungry, so they came running in and forgot to take off their muddy shoes. Their mother had just had her cream-colored carpets cleaned.

Make a prediction about what happens next.

Let’s take some guesses

1. Do you think mom smiled nicely and told them to wash their hands before sitting down?

2. Do you think mom laughed and said, “oh, it’s just a carpet”?

OR . . .

Do you predict that the children’s mother got angry at them for

wearing their muddy shoes on her clean carpet?

If that’s what you predicted,

you’re right!

Let’s try one more

Maya and Tony moved quickly as the sky got darker and the wind grew stronger. They grabbed as many candles and flashlights as they could find, and they placed them all over the house. The air cracked with the sound of thunder, and the lights in the house flickered off and on again.

What do you predict happens next?

What do we know?

• We know that sometimes during thunderstorms when the lights flicker, the power will eventually go out.

And

• We know that candles and flashlights are used when this happens.

So what’s your prediction?

Based on what we already know, our prior knowledge, as well as what we learn from the little story, we can predict that the power will go out, but that Maya and Tony will be prepared with candles and flashlights if this happens.

Good thing they’re smart, and they won’t be sitting

in total darkness!

Making predictions is actually pretty easy if you use what you already know as well as what the author tells you.

If you do these two things, it can actually be fun to guess what is going to happen next!