How can VPK instructors encourage children to make predictions about stories?

Encouraging discussions based on content in pictures is an effective strategy for VPK instructors to help children make predictions about stories. When children engage with visuals accompanying a story, they are able to make observations about characters, settings, and events that may not yet have been explicitly stated in the text. This process stimulates their thinking and imagination, allowing them to formulate predictions based on visual cues and contextual clues from the illustrations.

Through discussions, instructors can prompt children to express what they think will happen next in the story and justify their predictions. This collaborative dialogue also enhances their comprehension skills and encourages them to connect their personal experiences to the story being told. Additionally, visual stimuli can capture children’s interests and motivate them to engage more deeply with the narrative, thus fostering a love for reading and storytelling.

Other approaches, such as providing multiple-choice questions or instructing children to write down their predictions, may not promote the same level of critical thinking and engagement that comes from discussion-based interactions. Telling a story without visuals can limit children's ability to make predictions because they do not have any imagery to reference or discuss. Therefore, discussing the content in pictures is the most effective method for stimulating predictions in young learners.