Making Simple PredictionsActivities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning works well for making simple predictions because young students learn best when they talk, move, and create. When children predict together, they hear others’ reasoning, which builds their ability to justify ideas using evidence from stories.
Learning Objectives
- 1Identify specific visual and textual clues within a story that support a prediction.
- 2Explain the reasoning behind a prediction using evidence from the text or illustrations.
- 3Compare and contrast an initial prediction with the actual events that occurred in a story.
- 4Formulate a new prediction based on new information presented in a story.
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Pair Share: Prediction Pause
During read-aloud, pause at key points and have pairs discuss clues from pictures or words to predict the next event. Each pair shares one prediction with evidence. Record predictions on a chart for later comparison.
Prepare & details
Explain what clues in the story help you make a prediction.
Facilitation Tip: During Pair Share: Prediction Pause, have students alternate roles of predictor and listener to ensure both contribute evidence before sharing with the group.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Small Groups: Clue Hunt Relay
Divide the story into sections. Groups hunt for 2-3 clues per section, predict the next event, and pass to the next group. Groups justify predictions orally before moving on.
Prepare & details
Predict the next event in a story and justify your reasoning.
Facilitation Tip: In Clue Hunt Relay, set a five-second time limit at each station so students quickly scan for one clue and move on, reducing overthinking.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Whole Class: Prediction Theatre
Stop the story and have the class act out their predicted next event using props or actions. Vote on the most likely prediction, then reveal the real page and discuss matches.
Prepare & details
Compare your prediction with what actually happened in the story.
Facilitation Tip: For Prediction Theatre, assign small roles so every child has a turn to act out a moment and prompt classmates to predict what comes next.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Individual: Sketch a Guess
After a story pause, students draw their prediction with labeled clues. Share drawings in a gallery walk, then check against the text.
Prepare & details
Explain what clues in the story help you make a prediction.
Facilitation Tip: When students Sketch a Guess, ask them to label one part of their drawing with a word or phrase from the story that guided their idea.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Teaching This Topic
Teachers approach this topic by modeling how to pause and point out evidence aloud during read-alouds, then gradually releasing responsibility to students. Avoid rushing through predictions; give time for students to revise based on new clues. Research shows that children benefit from hearing peers’ reasoning, so structured partner talk is essential.
What to Expect
Students will explain their predictions using specific clues from the text or pictures and adjust their thinking when new information appears. Look for clear links between evidence and guesses in both discussions and recorded work.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring Pair Share: Prediction Pause, watch for students who make guesses without using evidence from the text or pictures.
What to Teach Instead
During Pair Share: Prediction Pause, hand each pair a small set of picture cards from the story and require them to place one card face-up as they share their prediction, explaining how the image supports their thinking.
Common MisconceptionDuring Prediction Theatre, children may assume the first prediction they hear is the only correct answer.
What to Teach Instead
During Prediction Theatre, pause after each act and ask students to show a thumbs up or down privately, then discuss why multiple ideas can fit the clues before revealing the next part of the story.
Common MisconceptionDuring Clue Hunt Relay, visual learners might ignore the text and only use pictures.
What to Teach Instead
During Clue Hunt Relay, include one station per group that requires students to find a repeated word in the text, ensuring they attend to both visual and written clues.
Assessment Ideas
After Sketch a Guess, collect drawings and ask each student to write one sentence predicting what happens next and circle one clue that helped them on the back of the page.
After Pair Share: Prediction Pause, ask pairs to share one prediction and clue with the class, then listen for students who use specific evidence from the text or illustrations.
During Clue Hunt Relay, circulate and ask each group to tell you one clue they found and what prediction it suggests, listening for accurate links between evidence and guesses.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge: After Sketch a Guess, ask students to write a second prediction using a clue from a later page and explain how it changed.
- Scaffolding: Provide sentence stems on cards during Clue Hunt Relay, such as “I predict because I see…”
- Deeper exploration: Create a class chart titled ‘Our Prediction Journey’ where students add sticky notes showing how their predictions changed across the story, using specific clues as evidence.
Key Vocabulary
| prediction | A guess about what will happen next in a story, based on clues. |
| clue | A piece of information from the story, like a picture or a word, that helps you make a prediction. |
| evidence | The specific clues from the story that support your prediction. |
| justify | To explain why you made a certain prediction, using the evidence. |
Suggested Methodologies
Planning templates for English
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