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Read Chapters 5-7; Complete Student Packet Worksheets for Chapters 5-7. Bring in a photograph of a friend or family member (can be the same photograph as Lesson 2)

Read aloud the following scenario. Instruct students to think about what would come next in the scenario.

As the seventh-grader walked down the hall on her first day in her new school, she could feel fifty pairs of eyes staring at her. “Just keep your head up and quickly get to your homeroom,” she kept telling herself. She was used to this torture; with her mom in the military, Dana changed schools nearly every year. But this time, things felt different. From across the hall, she spotted one student pointing her way. You could tell this seventh-grader was popular. The jacket, the shoes, the cool hair—everything spelled perfection. Suddenly, Dana found herself surrounded by the popular kid and a group of equally slick students. “Oh, great,” Dana thought. “Here we go.” As Dana prepared for what was to come, “cool hair” scrambled through the group and stepped in front of her.

Ask students to predict what will happen next. Give students five minutes to continue writing this scenario. After time has passed, ask a few students to share their predictions with the class. Prompt students with questions about what helped them think about their prediction for what comes next in the story. What did you think about when making your prediction to what comes next in the story? Ask students to identify information about character, setting, or plot that helped them develop their prediction for the story.

Engage students in a discussion about prior knowledge or experience they accessed in order to make their prediction. Encourage students to share their reasons why they chose to continue the story in the way they did. Note: You may want to write the scenario on chart paper and post so that students can refer to it when they are writing.

will explain that just like we made a prediction in our short scenario, readers can predict what will happen next in a book. It is important that readers make meaningful predictions or predictions that will help them to better understand the text. While readers can often make predictions at most places in a text, it is important to make sure the predictions have a purpose and are done at a point in the text when it is most appropriate. I will explain that just like we saw in our scenario, readers can also predict what will happen next in a story.

I will write the four steps to making a good and sound prediction. Step 1: Determine when there’s a big event or a cliffhanger and stop reading; Step 2: Ask yourself specific questions about what could happen next; Step 3:Access prior knowledge or experience to think about what could happen next; Step 4:Make a meaningful prediction using text evidence.

I will make a prediction about a big event in Chapter 7 of The Great Gilly Hopkins, recording my notes on Predictions Chart 1. First, I will quickly look through Chapter 7 to see if I can recall any major events in the chapter. In this chapter, Gilly stole Mr. Randolph’s money with the help of Agnes and William Ernest, so I can determine that this is a big event. I will record this information on Predictions Chart 1 under the column labeled “Identify a big event or a cliffhanger.”

Next, I will ask myself questions about what could happen next. So, I could ask myself: Will Agnes tell on Gilly? Will Mr. Randolph find out? I will record my questions on Predictions Chart 1 under the column labeled “Ask specific questions about what could happen next.”

Then, I will think about my prior knowledge or experience to think about what could happen next. My prior knowledge tells me that friends don’t usually tattle on each other. There is text evidence that shows that Agnes desperately wants to be Gilly’s friend. I will record my prior knowledge on Predictions Chart 1 under the column labeled “Think about your prior knowledge or experience.”

Finally, this leads me to make my prediction: I predict that Agnes won’t tell on Gilly about stealing Mr. Randolph’s money. I will write this prediction on Predictions Chart 1. Concerning my question about Mr. Randolph, I know that he is blind. I don’t think he can easily get to the top of the bookshelf to store or get the money, which leads me to believe he probably didn’t know the money was up there. I can make the prediction that Mr. Randolph will not find out about Gilly stealing the money. I will write this prediction on Predictions Chart under the column labeled “Make a meaningful prediction using text evidence.”

Now, I will turn to the end of Chapter 7 to see if there is a cliffhanger I can make a prediction about. At the end of the chapter, I see that Gilly writes a letter to her mother exaggerating her life at Trotter’s. Gilly asks her mother to send more money for the ticket. Gilly mails the letter before she could change her mind. I’ll record this cliffhanger on Predictions Chart 1 under the column labeled “Identify a big event or a cliffhanger.”

Next, I will ask myself questions about what could happen next: Will Gilly’s mom get the letter? Will Trotter find out about the letter? I’ll record my questions on Predictions Chart 1 under the column labeled “Ask specific questions about what could happen next.”

For my next step, I will use prior knowledge or experience to think about what could happen next. Since Gilly put the letter in the mailbox, my prior knowledge tells me that Gilly’s mother will receive the letter. I know this from reading the back cover of the book. The back cover states, “But the rescue doesn’t work out quite the way Gilly planned.” This leads me to predict that Gilly’s mother will get the note. I will look for text evidence to help me decide what Gilly’s mother will do once she receives the letter. I’ll record my prior knowledge on my Predictions Chart 1 under the column labeled “Think about your prior knowledge or experience.”

For my question regarding whether Trotter will find out about Gilly’s letter, I can think about what I know about Trotter. There is evidence that Trotter keeps track of what’s going on in her house. So, when Gilly comes home from mailing her note, I predict that Trotter will question Gilly about where she’s been and she will get the information from Gilly. I will write my predictions on Predictions Chart 1.

I will explain that predictions can change as you read further into a story and gather additional details and information. I will revisit Predictions Chart 1 to adjust my predictions and to make additional predictions as I read Chapter 8 and beyond.

Ask: "How do I make a meaningful prediction about what’s coming up next in a story?" Students should respond that there are four steps to making a sound prediction. First, you identify a big event or cliffhanger. Second, you ask yourself specific questions about what might happen next. Third, you access prior knowledge and experience, as well as text evidence to think about what could happen next. Finally, you make a meaningful prediction using text evidence.

will read aloud Chapter 8 of The Great Gilly Hopkins. We will look for big events or a cliffhanger that we can make a prediction about. We will ask ourselves specific questions about what could happen next. Then, we will access prior knowledge and experience to answer our questions and to think about what could happen next. Finally, we will make our prediction for each event or cliffhanger and we will support our predictions with details from the text. We will record this information on Predictions Chart 2. Note: See Predictions Chart 2 for sample responses. As your class takes turns reading the chapter aloud, encourage students to raise their hands when they feel they’ve encountered an event they can make a prediction about. Some examples for predictions include: Will W.E. tell Trotter about Gilly leaving? Will Gilly make it to the bus? What will happen to Gilly when she gets caught?

will complete the Predictions Chart Worksheet in your Student Packet for Chapters 9 and 10. (See pages 16-17 in the Student Packet.) You will follow the 4-Step Process when making your predictions.

will each share one prediction we made while reading Chapter 9 with the class and we will discuss the 4-Step process used to make our predictions. We will return to our predictions as we read further into the book to check them or change them according to new events or what we have read.

We will examine the predictions I made while reading Chapter 7. I predicted that Agnes wouldn’t tell on Gilly. So far, my prediction is correct because Agnes hasn’t told anyone. I also predicted that Mr. Randolph wouldn’t find out that Gilly stole the money, but in Chapter 9 we read that Mr. Randolph did find out about Gilly stealing the money because Trotter made Gilly tell him and return the cash. So, this prediction was incorrect. For the cliffhanger in Chapter 7, I predicted that Gilly’s mother would get the note but she wouldn’t send the money. Part of my prediction was correct: Gilly’s mother did receive the note, and instead of sending money or coming to rescue her daughter, Gilly’s grandmother comes to see Gilly in Chapter 10. I also predicted that Trotter would find out about Gilly’s letter when Gilly returned from mailing it. But Trotter didn’t find out about Gilly’s letter then, so my prediction was incorrect.

Finally, we will discuss the predictions we made using Chapter 10. Chapter 10 brings Gilly’s grandmother to Trotter’s home. Gilly’s grandmother is trying to explain to Gilly about her daughter and is trying to form a relationship with her granddaughter. By using what you read in Chapter 10, as well as what you know about Gilly and her ability to get along with others, predict what the relationship between these two characters might be like in the coming chapters. Do you think they will have a relationship? Why or why not? What will the relationship look like?