Penguin Predicting!

Dec 11, 2018

I found a book that was perfect to explore the comprehension strategy of 'predicting' this week - Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. The title itself evokes natural curiosity and prediction.

Model for your students one of the strategies good readers utilize - prediction. What could be lost? How is it found? What does the picture tell us? What do you know about penguins already?

The story opens with yet another perfect prediction opportunity presented:

Once there was a boy and one day he found a penguin at his door.

Challenge your students to think about what they think

why is the penguin at the door
what will happen next

This book unfolds to convey the importance of friendship. It explores themes of sympathy, companionship, discovery, perseverance, communication and teamwork.

Our little penguin does not do any talking, so the book continues with multiple opportunities to explore prediction. Penguin and friend (unnamed boy in story) develop a friendship and journey together with limited direct communication. Much needs to be inferred between them. Ask your students to journey back through the text and consider how things might have been different with some direct speech within the text. Take a page from the book and record suggestions from students, onto chart paper, of direct speech between penguin and friend. Show students how to use speech marks.

If you are keen to read this fabulous book to your little learners, find it using our Amazon Affiliate link: Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers.

I've made a worksheet to accompany a lesson on the 'predicting' comprehension strategy. You can find it, along with the penguin poster directly in google drive: Penguin Predicting Poster and Worksheet.