Savvy Reader Predicting Day 1 Prairie Bell, Belle of the Prairie

Title: Prairie Belle, Belle of the Prairie Reading Goal: Genre Structure: folktales {GS} Team Cooperation Goal: Explain your ideas and tell why. Genre: Folktale Author: Sam R. McColl

“Prairie Belle, Belle of the Prairie”

Our story this week is Prairie Belle, Belle of the Prairie by Sam R. McColl. As we read, we’ll make predictions about the story. We’ll use information we’ve already read and think about what might happen next. Then we’ll read on to see what actually does happen.

Team Cooperation Goal Explain your ideas and tell why.

Vocabulary irritating replenish shouldering burnished goading swath collapsed partial

irritating When Mrs. Scratch scraped her fingernails on the chalkboard the sound was irritating to the whole class.

replenish When I finished my milk, my mom replenished my glass when I wasn’t looking.

shouldering When Kendra left for school, she was shouldering a heavy load.

burnished My mom showed me her special Canadian coin and it’s burnished surface fascinated me.

goading The man was goading the alligator with a stick, trying to get him to go back into the water.

swath The tornado left behind a swath of destruction that looked like a giant just walked right through the town.

collapsed The building collapsed during the earthquake and it just fell to the ground.

partial The umbrella had so many holes it only gave partial protection from the rain.

Let’s make some predictions Imagine that a clear sky began to grow dark with clouds. What would you predict the weather might be like later? Share with your partner.

Now suppose you go home, this afternoon, someone in your family is cooking and you smell fried chicken. What would you predict that you will have for dinner?

The things that we predict sometimes happen. But sometimes they don’t. In the cloudy sky example, it could rain or the clouds could move on before the storm actually hits. In the fried chicken example, you might have fried chicken for dinner later tonight, or you might learn that someone is frying chicken for a friend and that you’re having spaghetti for dinner instead.

The predictions that you made, however; were strong guesses because you’ve had a lot of experiences that support what you thought would happen. Cloudy skies often bring rain. What you smell cooking in the afternoon is usually what you will have for dinner that evening.

Good readers make predictions as they read. They think about what is happening in the story. Then they ask themselves if they have ideas about what might happen next and what these ideas might be. Then they think about the clues in the story, or the reasons they make these predictions. After that, good readers read on to see what actually does happen next.

Read this sentence Marco stood at the edge of the diving board and prepared to jump. Think about what you would predict will happen next and then share it with your partner. Now read the next sentence. Marco jumped and landed in the pool. Did you guess correctly?

Prairie Belle, Belle of the Prairie is about a girl who lives with her father on the prairie. Do you know what a prairie is? Prairies are large areas of open land, mostly flat but sometimes with low hills. Prairies usually have tall grasses and very few trees.

Previewing a story and thinking about what might happen is one kind of prediction. Let’s preview our story together. Do you think there was enough information to make a prediction about what the story might be about? No, there isn’t actually enough information to accurately predict what our story might be about.

I am going to read chapter 1 aloud. As I read I will follow the steps on my Predicting Strategy Card. I will stop after each page to ask myself if I can tell what might happen next, and if I can I will make a prediction. At the end of the passage I will make a final prediction and write it down.

Page 3 This page told me a bit about the setting of the story and the main characters, Prairie Belle and Pa. But it didn’t give me much information about what might happen. So I can’t really make a prediction at this point.

Page 4 There seems to be a drought that is causing problems for Prairie Bell and her father. Food is running low. I predict that they’re going to run out of food sometime soon. What clue from the story did I use to make my prediction? Did you figure out that it is the fact that food is running low?

PredictionPage numberConfirmed or Disproved They will run out of food sometime soon. Clues: food is running low and a drought means less food. 4

My Predictions  I predict that they’re going to run out of food sometime soon.(page 4)

Team Talk Let’s preview the questions. 1.What is unusual about the morning on which this story takes place? 2. How does making coffee remind Belle that she and Pa are running out of supplies? 3. Which definition best fits the word stand in the phrase “stand of dogwood trees” on page 6 of the story? a.Tolerate b.Lack c.Cluster d.Rise Explain why you think so. 4. Predict what will happen in the story. Share your prediction with your team. Discuss the clues that you used to make the prediction.

Partner Read 15 minutes Put 2 sticky notes on words that are new or unfamiliar to you pages 5-7 Partner Read p. 5-7 Restate page 5-7 Read Silently: Pages 6 and 7 Discuss with team words you clarified Find vocabulary words

Team Discussion-15minutes Discuss answers to team talk questions Write answers to question

Class Discussion What words did your group clarify?

At the end of the passage I read, I predicted Prairie Belle and her father would run out of food. But they still have some food left, so my prediction hasn’t been confirmed. Often, strong guesses about what might happen turn out to be confirmed. If the food had run out, I would have put a check mark next to my prediction because that would have meant it was confirmed. Since it wasn’t I’ll leave it blank.

My Predictions  I predict that they’re going to run out of food sometime soon.(page 4)

Do you think you would enjoy living on the prairie?