8th Grade Making Predictions

Making a prediction is a

• guess
• my favorite band
• using a magic 8 ball
• using previous information to determine what comes next

Good readers make predictions by

• guessing
• using text features
• asking their friends
• watching the movie first

Usually the bones of birds' wings are hollow.  This gives the bones strength without adding weight.  The surface is curved.  The fact that the front edge of the wing is thicker than the rear edge also makes for easier flight.  You can infer that a bird's wing:

• is very thick 
• is flat
• is made for flight

If you looked outside and this is what you saw, what predictions can you make about the weather?

• The rain gauge would be full of rain.
• It is winter.
• There has been very little rainfall.
• It is spring and the grass will be growing.

Making a prediction is 

• a way to solve world hunger
• a way to use what we already know to make a logical guess about what happens in the future
• a way to use what we don't know yet to make a logical guess about what hasn't happened yet
• a new dance craze

During colonial days there were no bathtubs or showers in the houses.  They were not missed, however.  Many people of that time never thought of taking a bath.  Most people thought that water caused many diseases.  Only the hands and face were washed, and that wasn't often.  You can predict that people of today:

• take more baths than people of colonial days
• take fewer baths than people of colonial days
• fear water more than people of colonial days

Shattered glass has caused many injuries and deaths.  Glass manufacturers have come up with an answer to this problem.  They have developed windshields that do not cut even when shattered.  The use of this glass in automobiles is expected to save many lives.  You can predict that the new glass:

• won't break
• isn't sharp
• will cost a lot of money

Before the 1800's people didn't have right or left shoes.  They had shoes of just one shape that they used for both feet.  When people first saw right and left shoes, they laughed.  They called them "crooked shoes."  "What a silly idea," they said.  You can tell that shoes before 1800:

• were pretty
• didn't look alike
• didn't fit very well

Tigers stay in the high grass where they can't be seen by hunters.  The hunters' helpers make noises to drive the tigers out into the open.  The hunters sit in cages on top of elephants. When the tigers come out in the open, the hunters shoot them.  You can infer that the grass must be:

• cut short
• higher than the tiger
• six to twelve inches high

For the walls, Jenny thought she would use a bright yellow paint. She would pick a border that had mostly bright red and green colors, and maybe a little bit of blue. She already had found some curtains that were sky blue with streaks of red, blue and yellow that she thought would go great with the walls. And finally, she had picked a carpet that was mostly blue with specks of red and yellow. Jenny couldn't wait till she was done decorating her room. It was really going to look awesome.
 The Summary of this passage is:

• Jenny likes bright colors.
• Jenny was going to paint her room.
• Jenny was picking out colors and materials to decorate her room.
• Yellow is a good color to paint your walls.