Several years ago I watched 60 Seesaw videos of fifth grade students reflecting on a THIEVES lesson. I’d posed these questions for reflection: “Were your predictions on track? How were they helpful (or not) to you as a reader?” What I noticed was that many students commented about whether their predictions were “right” or “wrong.” This made me wonder if they are clear about the value of predictions.

Predictions are not “right” or “wrong.” However, they can be superficial versus informed. They can be text-based versus misguided by background knowledge. And in general, predictions can change or shift as we read further into a text.

Regardless, the value of predicting is not the prediction itself. The value of predicting is in how it helps a reader activate prior knowledge and then use that prior knowledge to monitor for meaning as they read.

What follows are a few suggestions for helping students avoid this misconception.

Be explicit about the value of our predictions

We need to be explicit with students about why we predict. Predictions can serve as a lens for making sense of content:

• Predictions help you notice when an author has presented information you already knew.
• Predictions help you notice when new information is being presented.
• Predictions help you notice when contrasting information has been presented, information that may be wrong or that may need to be checked in additional sources.

Change how we ask questions about predictions

Eliminate asking “Were your predictions on track?” These fifth graders’ comments are a reflection on my teaching. The question “Were your predictions on track?” seems to be asking whether a student’s predictions were “right” or “wrong.” Upon reflection, I think I needed to be more explicit about the value of predictions and provide time for students to talk about the power of their predictions in helping them make sense of content. These are examples of prompts that might be helpful:

• How was your prediction helpful or unhelpful?
• What background knowledge did you activate because of that prediction? How as that helpful?
• How did that prediction help you monitor for meaning? Or determine what was important?
• How might it have been helpful to adjust your prediction based on what you learned as you started reading?
• It sounds like you needed to adjust your prediction. How was that helpful?

Ask students to try this out on Seesaw

The project I referred to earlier – where 5th grade students created Seesaw activities – happened when I was co-teaching virtually many years ago during COVID. I think the activity could still be an engaging and meaningful experience for students. My suggestion is to create a text set of articles (maybe related to a content area unit of study) and let students choose one. Then using directions like the ones I created in CANVA (see below), engage students in highly structured practice with you once before setting them off to do this on their own. You might assess their independent work by watching a sample of their videos and then teaching again at the point of need.

Hope this helps.

Sunday