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Subjects

• Arts & Humanities
  --Language Arts
  --Literature

Grade

• K-2
• 3-5
• 6-8

Brief Description

A fairy tale and follow-up activities teach/reinforce critical thinking/making predictions skills.

Objectives

Students

• make predictions about what will happen next as a fairy tale is read aloud.
• support their predictions with information/facts.

Keywords

critical thinking, predict, prediction, fairy tale

Materials Needed

• a printed copy of the fairy tale "The King's Choice"
• follow-up activities (provided below) for teaching critical thinking/making predictions

Lesson Plan

The Swedish fairy tale "The King's Choice", published on the Web site Whootie Owl's Stories to Grow By, is an excellent tool for teaching students to make predictions. Print out a copy of the story to read aloud to students. Before reading the story, you might mark the following places in the story where you will want to pause to ask What do you think will happen next? You might have students share their predictions orally, or you might have them record their predictions in writing on a sheet of paper or in their writing/reading journals.

• Pause after the opening paragraph, which ends…

…Any of the councilors could rise to become a fine leader, thought the King, but which one had the necessary inner strength?

…to ask students which of the King's councilors they think might be best suited to take the King's place.

• Pause after paragraph 7, which ends…

The wind whirled about, wrapping his woodcutter's garments tightly around him. Meanwhile, the boat nearly tipped over and the voices on board shrieked.

…to ask students to predict what will happen next in the story.

• Pause after paragraph 18, which ends…

The King continued, "I will announce my decision at a royal banquet to be held the day after tomorrow."

…to ask students to predict what will happen the next day? Who will show up for the King's royal banquet, since all of the councilors have already committed to being at the woodcutter's feast? Who might be chosen at the royal banquet to take over the King's role?

Have students record the next -- final -- prediction in writing; they should record the reasons behind their predictions, including information from the parts of the story already read that lead them to think that way.

• Pause after paragraph 27, which reads…

An hour later, a frazzled Lukas was led before the King's throne.

…to ask students to predict what might happen next in the story.

After sharing the fairy tale "The King's Choice" with students and giving them several opportunities to predict what will happen next, you might use one of the following "making predictions" lesson ideas as a follow-up. Look through the lesson ideas to find one that is appropriate for the grade level you teach.

Making Prediction Lesson Ideas
Primary Grades

• Making Predictions Skill Activity
• Follow the Clues
• Teaching With Favorite Leo Leonni Books: Making Predictions With Little Blue and Little Yellow
• Active Reading Using The Enormous Watermelon
• Guess What's in the Bag: A Language-Based Activity
• Using a Predictable Text to Teach High-Frequency Words
• Flat Stanley Parts of a Story Pre-Reading Activity
• Guided Reading: If You Give A Mouse a Cookie
• Use Predictions to Help Kids Think Deeply About Books
• And Then…
• What Will Happen Next?
• TALK Activities: Making Predictions
• Making Predictions As We Read Using Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg
• Making Predictions
• The Frog Beyond the Fairy Tale Character: Searching Informational Texts
• It Doesn't Have to End That Way: Responding to Literature
• A Getting-Acquainted Activity Using My Teacher's Secret Life
• Tips for Introducing the Concept of "Making Predictions"
• Making Predictions Sets a Purpose for Reading

Elementary Grades

• Follow the Clues
• Prediction Cards
• Pencil Pages: Getting to the Point When Researching Information
• Unwinding A Circular Plot: Prediction Strategies in Reading and Writing
• Using the Prediction Strategy to Set Purposes for Reading
• Use Predictions to Help Kids Think Deeply About Books
• Making Predictions Sets a Purpose for Reading
• Tips for Introducing the Concept of "Making Predictions"

Upper Grades

• A Directed Listening-Thinking Activity for Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"
• On a Musical Note: Exploring Reading Strategies by Creating a Soundtrack
• Timelines and Texts: Motivating Students to Read Nonfiction
• Making Predictions Sets a Purpose for Reading
• The World's Greatest Contralto

Assessment

Lesson Plan Source

EducationWorld.com

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

National Standards

LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.1 Reading for Perspective
NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.3 Evaluation Strategies
NL-ENG.K-12.6 Applying Knowledge
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills

See more Lesson Plans of the Day in our Lesson Plan of the Day Archive. (There you can search for lessons by subject too.)

For additional language arts/reading lesson plans, see these Education World resources:

• Lesson Planning: Language Arts
• Language and Literature Subject Center
• Teacher-Submitted Lesson Plans: Arts & Humanities
• News for Kids
• The Reading Room
• Writing Bug
• Every-Day Edits
• Work Sheets from Teacher Created Materials: Language Arts

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Copyright© 2007 Education World

Originally published 01/20/2006
Links last updated 04/11/2007