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Humanities LibreTexts

1.2.4: Predicting

  • Page ID
    360585

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    Predicting is another active reading strategy that helps you engage with the text. The first step is to look closely at the title and the skim through the article. Make a note of the length. Are the paragraphs long or short? What kind of words are used? Is the diction formal and informal? What kind of punctuation is used? Based on the title, what do you think the subject of the article might be? A title such as "Climate change is killing people, but there's still time to reverse the damage" by Rebecca Hersher published by NPR can be quite enlightening as you can predict that the article will discuss the dangerous impact of climate change on humans, but it will also suggest solutions to this grave problem. At this point you may consider what you know about climate change and how it impacts your life. Do you think it has a negative impact on your health? Either way, it might pique your interest to read the article. Predicting the contents of the article is like watching the preview of a film. You get some idea about the reading, and you might be able to predict what happens. In both cases you are actively engaging and making connections with your own life experiences to think more critically.

    At this point you might also consider the PPPC strategy which includes previewing, pre-reading, predicting, and coding, following the steps of skimming through the article for length, structure, title, content, punctuation etc. then predicting its subject matter, and finally taking notes and annotating the article.

    In the following video "#2 Prereading: How to Make Predictions," Mister Messinger discusses how predicting helps us better understand what we are reading.