Predicting and Inferring
Scaffolding Comprehension Strategies using an Explicit Framework (Virtual Tour)
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 1: Beginning LiteracyStage 2: Consolidation / Fluency
Ages:
5-9
Grade Range:
1st 2nd 3rdFood Groups:
Primary: Reading Comprehension Strategies, Writing Processes & Strategies Secondary: Knowledge Building
Transcript
Within oral communication and writing, one of the units that I dedicate time with my students on is predictions. Predictions is very important because it allows me and students to know that they understand what they are reading and also they can write something about it and give a story with their own ending. It doesn't have to be the original writer's ending; it could be their own. But they have to understand the first part of what I was reading or what they were reading. I think that this part comes naturally for students to predict what they think might happen next. The step forward that we make is about explaining why. That's the part that they find more challenging. When you tell them, can you explain your prediction? They don't understand that. So you have to be very specific with First Graders. This is an example here of how I do it. For those students that need that extra support on how do I do that and how do I write that? Here it says "I think that what might happen next is", write your prediction. What it is that you think is going to happen next, period. "I say this because", and then they get to tell me why. Within this unit we talk about inferencing, which is finding those clues in the text that the author or writer doesn't necessarily say. But I sort of figured it out on my own because I saw something in the pictures or something that the author said that made me think: I think this is what's going on, or something that I already knew. So those are inferences that the students can make and that can help them make a prediction that makes sense. It could be something that they already knew, spread previous knowledge, or something that the author already said. So here is an example of how I try to help them so they don't spend so much time on how do I organize my ideas to make this look good? So here, they don't have an excuse, they start, "I think what's going to happen next is", and they write your prediction, period. "I say this because" and then they get to tell me why.
Related References
Additional Links:
Reading Rockets: Making Predictions http://www.readingrockets.org/article/making-predictions Reading Rockets: Inference http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/inference
Activity Objective
The goal of Predicting and Inferring: Scaffolding Comprehension Strategies using an Explicit Framework (Virtual Tour) is to help students make inferences and predictions about stories through a fill-in-the-blanks activity. This teacher asks his students to write out their predictions and inferences using an anchor chart that assists students in organizing their ideas and words.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
- Use movies or video clips instead of books to make inferences and predictions. - Once your students grasp how to make predictions and inferences, they can write their own paragraphs about what they think could happen next, how they know this, and other supporting details.
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