Making Predictions in Fiction

Making Predictions in Fiction

Read each passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. Use details from the text to support your predictions.

Passage 1: The Old Lighthouse Keeper

Old Mr. Abernathy had lived in the lighthouse for fifty years, guiding ships through the treacherous coastal waters. His face was weathered like an old map, etched with lines that told tales of countless storms and solitary nights. One blustery evening, as a fierce gale raged outside, he noticed the beam of his lighthouse flicker and dim. He patted the ancient mechanism, murmuring words of encouragement, but the light sputtered again, weaker this time. A ship's horn blared faintly in the distance, a sound of distress carried on the wind.

1. What do you predict Mr. Abernathy will do next?

2. What evidence from the passage supports your prediction?

Passage 2: The Mysterious Map

Maya stumbled upon an old, rolled-up parchment hidden beneath a loose floorboard in her attic. Unfurling it carefully, she saw a faded map, its edges brittle with age. Cryptic symbols and a dotted line led from her town to a place marked with a crude 'X' deep within the Whispering Woods. A small, tarnished silver key was taped to the back of the map, along with a note that read, 'Seek the guardian of the ancient spring.'

3. What do you predict Maya will do with the map and key?

4. What might happen if Maya follows the map to the 'X'?

5. Read the following sentence: "The dark clouds gathered, and the wind began to howl, rattling the windows of the old farmhouse." Based on this sentence, what is the most likely prediction about what will happen next?

6. Making predictions while reading helps readers stay engaged with the story.

7. Good predictions are based solely on what the reader wishes would happen.

8. When making a prediction, you should always look for   in the text.

9. Predictions help you think about what might happen   in a story.