ANTICIPATION GUIDEReading To Learn In All Content Areas

What is an Anticipation Guide?• Pre-reading/Pre-learning strategy

Roadmap with Signposts

Procedure (Teacher)• Analyze the material to be read. Determine the major

ideas- implicit and explicit- with which you want students to interact.

• Write those ideas in short, clear, declarative statements. These statements should in some way reflect the world in which the students live or about which they already know. Therefore, avoid abstractions whenever possible.

• Put these statements in a format that will elicit anticipation, prediction, and interaction with the text.

Points About Creating Statements• When creating the Anticipation Guide, write statements that:

• focus on the information in the text that you want your students to focus on or think about.

• are chronological in order.• students can react to without having read the text.• information can be identified in the text that supports and/or

opposes each statement.• challenge students’ beliefs about the subject, yet are

plausible.• are general rather than specific. (eg. “What is the 4th word on

the 6th paragraph on page 49?”)

Mathematics ExampleDirections: Before reading pages 318-319 in your mathematics book, read each statement and circle in the left column if you agree or disagree with each statement. Before Reading After Reading

Agree Disagree Decimals are whole numbers. Agree Disagree

Agree Disagree You can always recognize a decimal number because it always has a decimal point.

Agree Disagree

Agree Disagree Decimals are not related to fractions.

Agree Disagree

Procedure (Student)

• Answer the left column

• Discuss the answers

• Critically read the text

• Answer the right column

• Discuss the answers

Variations• Add a column for students to write down a page number

and paragraph from the text to defend their answer.

Before Reading Statement After

ReadingPage &

Paragraph

Yes No A fungus doesn’t make its own food. Yes No

Yes No Fungi always harm the living things from which they get their food. Yes No

Yes No We have not discovered any helpful fungi. Yes No

Yes No Fungi can only live on things that once were alive. Yes No

Variations• Add space for students to defend answers

Before Reading Statement After

ReadingYes No Security and Privacy can “make or break” an e-commerce business. Yes No

Defense:

Yes No The right to privacy is an absolute right. Yes No

Defense:

Yes No Hacking and viruses are considered to be illegal activities. Yes No

Defense:

Yes No Both security and privacy address moral and psychological needs. Yes No

Defense:

Your Turn!Before

Reading Statement After Reading

Yes No You are 5 times more likely to get into an accident if texting while driving. Yes No

Defense:

Yes No Using a “headset” cell phone is safer than using a “hand-held” device. Yes No

Defense:

Yes No Teens are no more likely to get into a crash than their adult counterparts. Yes No

Defense:

Why Use an Anticipation Guide?

1- Requires Little Teacher Preparation

2- Can be an Entire Lesson

3- Encourages Student Focused Effort

4- Allows for Individual Teaching

5- Elicits Prior Knowledge

6- Stimulates Students' Interest In A Topic

Turn this…

Into this!

7- Sets a Purpose for Reading

8- Establishes Focus and Direction

9- Allows for Formative Assessment

More Detailed Instruction

Essential vs. Non-Essential Details

3 Levels of Statements

1- Right There On The Page

2- Reading Between The Lines

3- Reading Beyond The Lines

1- Right There On The Page

2- Reading Between The Lines

3- Reading Beyond The Lines

Challenges and Tips• Avoid simple recall statements

Challenges and Tips• Pre-Reading Strategy = Pre-Assessment

Challenges and Tips• Monitoring

Direct Application• Using your own teaching materials, brainstorm and jot

down possible ideas on a lesson where you could use an anticipation guide in your content area.

• Come up with specific concepts you would like your students to touch on, statements that will lead your students to those concepts, which (if any) variations you’d like to use, etc.

• Be prepared to share your ideas with a neighbor.