Reading Strategy: Plan Your Reading

Before you read a story, look it over. Decide what it is about. Then think about what you might learn.

Reading Strategy Plan Your Reading
    How to Preview and Predict

  • 1. Before you read, look quickly at the title and pictures. Ask yourself: What is this story about?

  • 2. Read the first few paragraphs. Look for clues that give information about the characters.

  • 3. As you read, make predictions about what the characters will do.

Strategy in Action

Here’s how one student previewed and made predictions.

Look Into the Text

You live there?

There. I had to look to where she pointed—the third floor, the paint peeling, wooden bars Papa had nailed on the windows so we wouldn’t fall out. You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing. There.

Hmm, she lives on the third floor.

“My preview tells me she lives in an apartment.”

Practice Together

Now it’s your turn to look into the text. Reread the passage above and make your own prediction. Follow the steps in the How-To box. As you read, continue to make predictions about what the characters will do. Then keep reading to confirm whether your predictions are correct.