Materials and Focus:

Scieszka, J. (1994). The frog prince, continued. Illustrated by Steve Johnson.

Independent Reading Book(s)
Chart Paper
Writing/Reading Journals
Iowa Core Standard(s):
RL.5.IA.1
o Employ the full range of research-based comprehension strategies, including
making connections, determining importance, questioning, visualizing, making
inferences, summarizing, and monitoring for comprehension.
Continuum GoalGrade 5:
Make predictions based on information in the text as to what will happen, what characters
are likely to do, and how it will end. (p. 104)
Objective:
Students will make predictions about the characters actions and plot points based on the
information found in the text, as well as visual clues from the illustrations.
Following their predictions, as the story progresses, students will also revisit their
predictions in order to test validity (Were their predictions correct? What clues did they
miss? Were there clues to hint at the progression?
Introduction of the Strategy
What are some of the things good readers do? (Predict, summarize, question, infer, etc.)
What does it mean to make predictions? (Make an educated guess as to what happens
next in a story).
In order to make predictions we, as readers, take in information from the book: pictures,
words, ideas, etc., and make an educated guess as to what might happen next.
We can draw from background knowledge, personal experiences, and even questions we
have to help build our predictions about what might happen.
It is also important to review predictions to see if we were right or notwe might have
missed a clue or perhaps the author left ideas out to make us guess.
Explicit Teaching (Introduce the book)
Today I am going to making some predictions about what happens in the story The Frog
Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka.
Before I even open the book, Im going to take a look at the cover.
o I realize that I know the story of the frog prince from previous experiences, so my
first prediction is that this is going to be a sequel of some sort.
o The red letters look like blood to me, so my next prediction could be that
something bad happens to the prince in the story.
So, after making my first two predictions, I am going to write them down on my chart
paper under the prediction side. Later on, when I read a little more I can note whether I
was right or not on the actual story side.

I read that the prince and princess arent very happy in their marriage, but the prince
also looks sad and wants to go to the pond. So, my next predication is that the prince is
going to leave the castle to go to the pond. (p. 2)
I keep reading to see if I can find any information about my previous predictions, but on
page 7, there is some new information presented that makes me think I might know
whats going to happen. When the prince says, Still a frog Yes! Thats it! and runs
off, I think he is going to try to turn back into a frog.
Now I read that he has asked a witch to turn him back into a frog, and she thinks he is
looking for a princess. So, I predict that since he ran away from the witch things will be
okay for him; for now. Lets keep reading and find out. (p. 11)
After reading through the next few pages I start to see a pattern developing: he finds a
witch, she thinks he is after something different, and he runs away. So, I think he wont
find any help from the witches in the woods. (p. 12-17)

Guided Practice (We Do)

Now that you have watched and listened to me make predictions about what happens in
the story. We are going to do a little predicting as a larger group. I want you to take out
your writing journal and put The Frog Prince Continued at the top, then divide it in half
like I have done with my chart paper.
You do not have to make a prediction about every page, but I want you to write down a
2-3 predictions as we work through the second half of this story. Then at the end were
going to share our predictions and see what we found out.
I want you to really think about what you know about these types of stories, the other
versions of this story you may have read, and other facts you know from personal
experience. Well start off kind of slow, and as I read I want you to make some
predictions. Any questions?
At the end of the story, have the students share out their predictions as well as some of
the supporting evidence that they used to come up with it.
o Could also be a time to reflect on the correctness of the original predictions the
teacher made: did it work out? Was there something bad that happened? Was it a
sequel to the original?
o The students can do the same thing with their predictions in order to complete the
graphic organizer as discussion wraps up.
Collaborative Practice (You do together):
Since making predictions happens with any story, there is no specific books to be used
for this section of the lessonan assortment of books would be selected at random and
distributed to the table groups.
So, now that I have demonstrated how to make predictions and we worked through half a
book together as a large group, it is now your turn to make some predictions with a
partner.
o As have given each table group a stack of books, and what I want you to do is,
with a partner, read oneor moreof them while making predictions about the
following areas:
What is the story about?
What will happen? What are the major plot points?

 How will the story end?

o In addition to the predictions, I want you to provide some evidence as to why you
came up with that prediction. This will be a third column in our chart!
Make sure to write your predictions, evidence and findings in your
writers journal so that I can track your thinking and assess your predicting
skills.
Discussion/Closure:
Today we started our lesson with making educated guesses about what might happen in a
story. Eventually, we got to the point where we were using evidence to support our
predictions and ultimately finding out if we were right or not. It is important to make
predictions while reading, because it allows us to invest in the story. If were just read
the words without paying attention to what might be happening, we wont gain anything
from the experience. Half of the fun of reading a good book is trying to figure out what
happens next before the author tells you. Its always a mystery until the answers are
revealedin making predictions we are the detective piecing together the puzzle.
Independent Practice (You do alone):
Since the students have regular reading time, they are to track predictions about the books
they are reading. They will make notes in their reading journals as to what they thought
was going to happen, what evidence they used, and if they were right or not (eventually).
The goal is to have them demonstrate active engagement with a text: using pictures,
words and ideas to construct understanding.
They do not have to write a lot of predictions, but enough to show that they are actively
engaged with the process, and understand the work that goes into making good guesses.
Assessment:
Most of the assessment will be informal: through reading their journals and conferencing
with the students about the books they are currently reading.
o They should be able to demonstrate a solid understanding of what it takes to make
a prediction and how to revisit them in order to determine correctness.
Occasionally, a formalized prediction assignment could be administered in order to spot
check their development and understanding. Since predicting is an ongoing process, there
is no single assessment that can be administered in order to determine whether or not they
got it.
o This could also be revisited with the introduction of different types of text:
predicting with fiction is different than non-fiction or poetry. So, discussion
should be had around that as well.