When you think about what might happen next in a reading passage, you are making a prediction.  Making a prediction is a way of using clues from a reading passage, as well as things you already know, to make a good guess about what might happen next.  Predicting outcomes is the same as making your best guess about what will happen next.  We use the information we have about the world, and information that was found in the selection to help us make predictions about what will happen next.

 Making Predictions VIDEO

•  Clues are often in the title of a reading passage.  Read the title, and then make a prediction about what you will be reading.
• Clues are often in the facts and details in a reading passage.  Details about the things characters do and say often help you make a prediction about what they might do or day later in the story.
• Clues are often in any pictures included with a story.  Pictures often show something that is happening or will happen soon.

 A prediction is something you think will happen in the future.  Questions about predictions ask what will probably or most likely happen next.  You will not find the answer to these questions in the passage.  But there are clues you can use from the passage to make a good guess about what might happen next.

Predicting Outcome Questions:

• In the year _____, ______ will happen.    
• What is the least likely outcome?
• What is the most likely outcome?
• What would probably happen?
• What would he or she be likely to do?
• What would he or she be likely to say?
• What will happen next?
• From this story, you can predict that…

Strategy for Predicting Outcomes:

• Ask yourself, What are the most important things that you found out about the characters, based on what happened to them.  See if you can find a pattern.
•  Based on your own experience and what you have read, what is your best guess about what will happen next.