The PRIMALS Compendium of Teaching Resources

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Literacy Compendium Kit

E N G L I S H L E S S O N PL ANS F I L I P I N O L E S S O N PL ANS L IT ERACY S TRATEGIES

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE/
READING PURPOSE
Activating Prior Knowledge/Establishing Reading Purpose:

Antici pat ion Guides

We c a n n o t u n d e r s t a n d new The use of Anticipation
in f o r m a t i on unless we c a n Guides for activating
con nect it t o som et hing we student schema and
already know. The spoken o r connecting this to
wr itten text does n o t in itself the text to be read is
car r y meaning. Prior knowledge described in this guide.
(in t he reader’s memory)
interacts with a n d shapes
inc om in g i nf or m a t io n (from t h e
text) a n d how this knowledge
m ust be organized t o s u p p o r t
this interaction, resulting in
comprehension.

Table o f Contents:

Background/Research Base 2
Purpose/Benefits 3
Description/Procedure 3
How Teachers Can Make
t h e Strategy Work 5
Applications Across
t he Cur riculum 5
 Activating Prior Knowledge/Establishing Reading Purpose:

Anticipation Guides

Background / Research Base

Research in literacy has p o i n t e d o u t t h a t a nt i ci p at o r y

reading guides engage learners making predictions
a n d connections, as well as que st ion ing t he text.
Head a n d Readence (1992) a n d Duffelmeyer (1994)
poi nt ed o u t t he utility of a n t i c i p a t i o n guides as a
strategy t h a t may b e a d o p t e d across varying
text types.

As anticipation guides are concepts because it involves

taught explicitly, where teachers
demonstrate, explain and think
aloud, the process is a concrete
example of scaffolding for reading
comprehension (Wood et al.,
2008). Wood and Mateja (1983)
have also stated that although
anticipation guides were meant
for secondary grades, elementary
teachers have likewise adopted
the strategy.
The anticipation guide should also
help readers refine erroneous
confronting erroneous beliefs
(Gunning, 2013, p. 399). A study by
Ortlieb (2013) provided additional
evidence that anticipation guides
were effective in bolstering reading
comprehension skills among 3rd
Grade readers across content areas.
Even more, anticipatory reading
guides, were found to be
particularly effective in developing
struggling readers’ abilities to
deconstruct both fiction and
nonfiction texts (Kamps and
Greenwood, 2005; Ortlieb, 2013).

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Purpose / Benefits
Anticipation guides stimulate
readers’ interest in a topic and
sets a purpose for reading the
text. These may be used for both
pre-reading and post-reading
activities. Anticipation guides are
also useful for both narrative and
informational texts.
The strategy teaches readers to
make predictions, anticipate the
text, and verify their predictions
after. Readers can also connect
new information to prior
understanding and build curiosity
about a theme or topic.
Anticipation guides are to
be taught explicitly, with the
teacher modeling
responses and facilitating
whole class
discussion of readers’ reactions to
statements.
Prio r Kno wled g e/Rea d in g Pu r p os e |
Description / Procedure
An anticipation guide is a list of
statements with which readers are
asked to agree or disagree (Readence,
Bean & Baldwin, 1981; cited in Yopp
& Yopp, 1996, p. 19).
This comprehension strategy may be
used both before and after reading
to activate readers' prior knowledge
and build curiosity about a new topic.
Anticipation guides stimulate
readers'
interest in a topic and set a purpose for
reading.
Before reading, readers listen to
or read several statements about
key concepts presented in the text;
they're often structured as a series of
statements with which the readers can
choose to agree or disagree.
After reading, the anticipation guide
prompts discussion and can help
readers reconsider their understanding
of the theme or concept.
An t ic ip a t io n Gu i d es 3
 How t o Make a n Anticipation Guide

STEP 1. STEP 4.
IDENTIFYING THEMES OR CONCEPTS. WHOLE-CLASS DISCUSSION
OF RESPONSES.
Identify the major themes o r Talk over each statement a n d
concepts a n d establish objectives engage readers in a discussion
for the reading text. a b o u t their reactions t o each
statement.

STEP 2. WRITING THE GUIDE.

STEP 5.
Write 3 t o 5 statements related
t o the text. Consider the readers’ READING OF THE TEXT.
backgrounds as well a n d how you
Sum u p the main points of
think the readers may know a b o u t
the discussion a n d have
the topic. Write statements t h a t
readers read t he text. Let them
focus o n what readers should
compare their responses with
think a b o u t such as controversial
what the materials states.
statements o r questions, o r
even misconceptions a b o u t the
t op ic / theme. Write
STEP 6.
statements t h a t readers ca n
react t o with o r without having AFTER READING FOLLOW UP.
read the text.
A g o o d anticipation guide After reading have a class
includes statements t h a t provoke discussion a n d ask readers
disagreement a n d challenge if their posit ion changed in
readers’ beliefs a b o u t the topic relation t o any statements.
(NBSS, n.d.) Make sure readers share
examples from the text where
STEP 3. their initial responses were
either s upp ort ed o r challenged
INTRODUCING THE GUIDE. (how their p r i o r knowledge
was s upp or t ed o r changed by
Present the statements t o the
t he text read.
readers a n d introduce the purpose
of the guide. Allow the readers
t o respond individually t o each
statement by indicating their
agreement o r disagreement t o it o n
paper.

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How Teachers Can Make
The Strrategy Work

To provide extra support for readers

who struggle with reading, use
strategies to communicate the
information in the anticipation guide
visually e.g., pictures and diagrams.

Put readers in pairs to complete the

anticipation guide if they are
having trouble making connections
with the theme or topic, or if they
are
having trouble with the language (for
example, ESL readers).

Applications Across The Curriculum

Math and Science

In the context of math and science, statements that challenge readers’

an anticipation guide increases
comprehension by activating prior
knowledge of mathematics or
scientific skills and concepts and/or
the contexts for math investigations
and problems. An anticipation guide
works best when the statements
challenge readers’ thinking about a
mathematical or scientific topic or
concept. The idea of the guide is to
create curiosity about a math topic or
concept and motivate readers to
read the text or problem and
investigate the concept.
In creating an anticipation guide
to activate prior knowledge about
math skills and concepts, write
preconceived ideas or intuitive
understandings of a concept e.g.,
Agree/Disagree: the volume of
cylinder created by connecting an
81/2” x 11” sheet of paper
vertically is more than the volume
of the cylinder created by
connecting the same paper
horizontally.
Anticipation may also be used as
scaffold for readers in validating
conjectures and in developing
hypotheses. After readers take a
position by agreeing or disagreeing
with the statements in the
anticipation guide, they usually
want to continue by investigating
the statement.

Prio r Kno wled g e/Rea d in g Pu r p os e | An t ic ip a t io n Gu i d es 5

 Name Date
Title of Story Aut hor

A N T I C I P AT I O N G U I D E
Use the following anticipation guide t o preview a story before you read it. Before
reading, mark whether o r n o t you agree o r disagree with each statement.
After reading the story, fill in the pa ge n u mb e r where you f o u nd the answer t o
each statement, tell whether o r n o t you were right, a n d reflect o n what you
found.
Agree/ Disagree Page # Were you right? Reflect
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Prediction Guide -- Estimating

Before reading pages xx-xx, place a √ beside those statements you think will be t rue in
the reading a n d a X beside those stetements you think will be false. Then, du ring o r after
reading, make any changes t h a t you wish.

BEFORE
AFTER

1. It is easy t o a d d u p some number in your head, b u t it is harder t o a d d others.

2. An estimate is a guess, b u t it can be pretty accurate.

3. When you round a number up, you can change a number in your mind t o

make it equal t o the next amount of ten, or hundred, or thousand.

4. When you round down, you make a number smaller in your mind.

5. If you want t o round the number 73 t o the nearest ten, you would round it t o 70.

6. If you want t o round the number 76 t o the nearest ten, you would round it t o 80.

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Anticipation Guide for the Process of Digestion

BEFORE READING: In the BEFORE c olumn place √ if you agree o r think the statement is true
a n d a X if you disagree o r think the statement is false.
AFTER READING: Now t h a t you have f o u n d the evidence in your textbook, place √ o r a X in
the AFTER' column.

BEFORE
AFTER

1. The digestive system of a human is just like t hat of a frog -- a long hollow tube.

2. O f the mout h parts (lips, cheeks, tongue, teeth a nd salivary glands) the teeth
are the most important.

3. You cannot swallow an d breathe at the same time.

4. The most important p ar t of the digestive process occurs in the duodenum

right after the food leaves the stomach.

5. The inside of the small intestine looks like a rug.

6. Early humans may have needed an appendix, b u t modern humans d o not.

7. By the time food gets to the large intestine, the nutrients are gone.

References

Duffelmeyer, F. (1994). Effective Anticipation

Guide Statements for Learning from
Expository Prose. J ournal of Reading, 37:
452-455.

Gunning, T. (2013). Creating Literacy Instruction

for all Readers. Boston: Pearson Education.

International Reading Association (IRA) a n d

the National Council for Teachers of
English (NCTE). (2003). Read Write Think.

National Behavior Support Service.

Anticipation
/ Predication Guides: Reading a n d Learning
Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.nbss.ie/
sites/default/files/publications
/anticipation_
guides_comprehension_strategy.pdf o n 23
January 2019.

On tar io Association for Mathematics Education.

Anticipation Guides. Retrieved from
https://oame.on.ca/main/files/thinklit/
AnticipationGuide.pdf o n 23 January
2019.

Ortlieb, E. (2013). Using anticipatory reading

guides t o improve elementary readers’
comprehension. International Journal of
Instruction, 6,2, 145-162.

Reading Rockets. http://www.readingrockets.org/

strategies/anticipation_guide. Retrieved o n 23
January 2019.

Yopp, H. & Yopp, R. (1996). Literature-based

Reading Activities (2nd Ed.) Boston: Allyn &
Bacon.

P rior K nowledge/R eading Purpose | An t ic ip a t io n Gu i d es

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