An essential part of the reading process is learning how to predict storylines. Teaching your child how to do this early on makes successful reading a lot easier because foresight and predicting storylines is a critical part of the reading process. Luckily, teaching your child how to predict storylines is as easy as it sounds. In fact, most kids have a natural inclination for it. Have you ever read your child a bedtime story only to have them interject questions like "What happens next?!" or " Are they going to make it away from the witch and live happily ever after?", etc.
This is the time you can start planting the seeds for how to predict the outcome of stories. Always ask them "What do think will happen next?" when they ask you any questions about the outcome fo the storyline. When they begin reading you stories, it's your turn to ask what will happen next :) Once you have their prediction you can tell them what you think will happen as well. If it turns out that their prediction is off you can ask them the question again after they read a few more pages if they still think the story will end the same way. Make adjustments to your guesses and teach them that it's okay to reframe your thinking as you read so they can understand that changing plot points will change the ending of a story.
Making predictions is only one reading strategy we'll be discussing on this blog. Look for more topics on this subject in the near future...
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