By Susan Weaver Jones & Laura Scott

Reading is FUN—at least, that’s how most teachers feel. However, students do not always share the same sentiment. How can you foster a love and excitement for reading in your classroom? Anticipation guides are an effective pre-reading activity to build critical thinking skills and create enthusiastic conversations about books. As students talk excitedly about their books, you will notice a positive shift in the classroom’s attitude toward reading.

Anticipation guides can be used for all ages and all genres of books. Establishing a routine of using anticipation guides allows students to fine-tune their skills and adds a layer of excitement to their next book. Over time, students can create anticipation guides for books they finish reading and share them with each other! To download templates for the anticipation guides described in this blog, click here.

Anticipation Guides for Fiction Books

Anticipation guides are a fun twist on making predictions for fiction books. Before students read, teachers can use anticipation guides to introduce concepts, events, or character motivation within the book. To make the anticipation guide, list several statements—some accurate and some not—and ask students to guess which statements are true. For longer books, try making an anticipation guide for a chapter instead of the entire book. 

Here is an example of an anticipation guide for the fiction book Wishy-Washy Clothes. Ask students to put a checkmark next to the statements they believe are true. Each student can have a copy of the guide, or you can write it on chart paper to share during whole-group reading.

Once students read the statements, give them time to talk with a partner or in small groups about why they believe a statement is true or false. Encourage students to expand when they explain why. If they are familiar with a character in the story from previous books, they may guess based on the character’s personality and past actions. Perhaps they have glanced through the pictures of the story for clues or read the back of the book.

After reading the story, check whether the statements students agreed with were true. Enjoy the enthusiastic conversations that bubble up as students review their choices. Anticipation guides do not always have to come from the teacher and be a whole-group lesson. Instead, use anticipation guides as a writing activity students complete after reading a story. They can share their guides with others who have not yet read the book, helping each other get excited about reading.

Anticipation Guides for Nonfiction Books

Two Truths and a Lie is an engaging and fun way to complete an anticipation guide using nonfiction books. List three facts about the nonfiction book you are going to read. Make sure one of the facts is not true. Before reading, students can guess which fact they believe is a lie. 

Here is an example using All About Pearls.  Giving each student an anticipation guide to refer to and take notes on as they read the story can be helpful. 

As students read, they can search for information to prove or disprove each statement. Encourage them to write the evidence they find on their anticipation guide. This motivates students to dig deeper into the text, explain what they learned, and find examples to support their statements.

As a writing activity after reading, students can create a small book of interesting ideas they learned from the story, recording and illustrating their sentences to reread and share.

The more enthusiasm students share about their books, the more they want to read. Anticipation guides are powerful tools that support deep comprehension and critical thinking skills. Most of the time, students do not even realize they are working hard! The best part about anticipation guides is that they nourish a love of reading. Self-motivated readers expand their enthusiasm to others in the classroom, and this contagious attitude can make reading the best part of the school day!

If you wish to download templates of the anticipation guides used in this blog, click here.

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Are you interested in books to enhance your classroom library and motivate young readers? Hameray's Classroom Libraries are curated sets of content-rich, high-interest books for K–5 readers. Featuring fables that demonstrate SEL topics, humorous fiction by Joy Cowley, high-interest nonfiction, biographies of diverse leaders, STEM, and more! Find the set you need to fill gaps in your classroom library. Click here for Spanish Classroom Libraries.

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