Anticipation Guides

Use this strategy: • Typically used before and after

reading• Can be used during read by students

Targeted Reading Skills: • Draw upon prior knowledge• Set a purpose for reading• Recognize the effects of ones’ point

of view in formulating interpretations of text

What is an Anticipation Guide?

When skillful readers pick up a new book, their minds go into "anticipation mode;" they have developed a set of strategies that help them get ready to read. 

They examine such things as: the cover and its art work, the book flaps, excerpts from the reviews, the writer's biography, the number of pages and print size; often these readers will open to several points in the text to sample the style and voice of the writer.

But…

Struggling readers will often skip all of these strategies as possible ways to approach a

text.

Therefore, if we can design activities that will help them to anticipate "the big ideas" that will be revealed, it may provide an initial "hook" that draws them into the text.

So What Does It Look Like?

Anticipation Guides are often structured as a series of statements with which the

students can choose to agree or disagree.  They can focus on the prior knowledge

that the reader brings to the text, or the "big ideas" or essential questions posed (implicitly or explicitly) by the writer as a

way for the reader to clarify his/her opinions before reading the text and then compare them to the writer's message as

they read.

Social Studies ExampleAnticipation Guide

Directions:Before reading: In the column labeled me, place a check next to any statementwith

which you agree.After reading: Compare your opinions on those statements with information contained

in the text.

Me Text_______ ________ 1. Before the building of the canal, ships traveled South to

get from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

_______ ________ 2. The fastest way from the Caribbean to the Pacific was by plane.

_______ ________ 3. The building of the canal continued the US policy of isolation.

_______ ________ 4. The geographic conditions helped make the building of canal easier.

_______ ________ 5. A canal through Panama would benefit the US politically and

economically.

_______ ________ 6. Latin America welcomed US control of the Panama Canal.

_______ ________ 7. The control of Latin America by the US required the US to send troops to

protect its interests.

Math ExampleMath Anticipation Guide

Directions: In the column labeled Me, place a check next to any statement with which you agree. After reading the text, compare your opinions about those

statements with information in the text.

Me Text_____ _____ 1. The Fibonacci Sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21,

34, 55, 89, …) has many interesting properties that have been found to occur in nature.

_____ _____ 2. Phyllotaxis is the arrangement of leaves in plants and can be modeled by the Fibonacci Sequence.

_____ _____ 3. The ratios of consecutive Fibonacci Numbers approach the golden ratio

(approximately .618034)._____ _____ 4. Golden Rectangles are those whose

dimensions are chosen so that the ratio of length to width is the golden ratio.

_____ _____ 5. The regeneration of male bees follows the pattern found in the Fibonacci Sequence.

Additional InformationDifferentiated instruction• For second language learners, students of varying reading skill,

students with learning disabilities, and younger learners• Anticipation guides can be completed orally. • The number of statements can be modified to suit learner's needs. • Teachers may assign different reading passages about the same

topic based upon reading skills. • Color code columns so that the child can clearly tell the difference

between the "before" and "after" column. • Use simple sentences so that the student focuses on the content,

rather than understanding the sentence.

See the research that supports this strategy:• Duffelmeyer, F. (1994). Effective Anticipation Guide statements for

learning from expository prose. Journal of Reading, 37, 452-455.• National Institute for Literacy. (2001). Put Reading First: The

Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read Kindergarten Through Grade 3. Jessup, MD: ED Pubs.

• Head, M. H., and Readence, J. E. (1992). Anticipation guides: Using prediction to promote learning from text. In E.K. Dishner, T. W. Bean, J. E. Readence and D. W. Moore (Eds), Reading in the content areas: Improving classroom instruction (3rd ed., pp. 227-233). Dubugue: Kendall/Hunt.

• Wood, K. D., D. Lapp, J. Flood, and D. B. Taylor. 2008. Guiding Readers Through Text: Strategy Guides for New Times. 2nd ed. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

• Wood, K.D., & Mateja, J. A. (1983). Adapting secondary level strategies for use in elementary classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 36, 492-496