DoAssignment study guide

C2.3 · Make and revise predictions using textual clues

Learn to make and revise predictions using textual clues through clear examples and targeted practice.

Ontario Grade 9 English

Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts

Using textual clues to make and revise predictions

A prediction is a reasonable idea about what may happen next or what a text may reveal. It is not a guess that must turn out to be correct. Readers use details already in the text, consider what those details might suggest, and stay ready to change their thinking. In this lesson, you will practise that process with original, invented examples. Each example separates what the text says from what a reader can reasonably predict.

What you will learn

Make a prediction from specific clues in a text.
Explain how clues support a prediction without treating it as a fact.
Revise a prediction when new textual clues appear.

1. Read for clues before predicting

Read this original, invented passage. Pause at the end of each sentence and notice details that could matter later.

“Mina stayed after school to finish the poster for the club fair. When she lifted it from the table, one corner sagged. She checked her backpack for tape, then looked toward the art room. The door was closed, but a thin line of light showed underneath. From inside came the soft scrape of a chair.”

A textual clue is a detail the text actually gives you. A prediction is what you think may happen, based on one or more clues. Keeping those separate helps you avoid accidentally turning an idea into a fact.

For example, it is an observation that Mina checked her backpack for tape. It is also an observation that she looked toward the art room, whose door is closed, and that a chair scraped inside. It is not yet a fact that she will enter the room or that someone is there to help.

Observation: what the text explicitly says.
Prediction: what may happen, supported by textual clues.
A prediction can be reasonable even if later details show it was wrong.

2. Make a prediction and keep it flexible

A useful routine is to name a clue, say what it might suggest, and make a prediction in cautious language. Phrases such as “may,” “might,” and “one possibility is” signal that you are predicting rather than reporting a fact.

From the passage, one prediction is that Mina may ask someone in the art room for tape. The clues are that the poster corner sags, she checks for tape, and she looks toward the lit room after hearing a chair scrape. The text does not say that anyone is inside, so that part must remain uncertain.

Another defensible prediction is that Mina may wait outside or look for another solution. The closed door could make her hesitate, and the passage does not tell us what she decides. The first prediction is not automatically better just because it is more dramatic. A strong explanation points to the words that support the possibility and acknowledges what is still unknown.

When you encounter a new clue, compare it with your earlier prediction. Keep the prediction if it still fits, adjust it if the new detail changes the likely possibilities, or set it aside if the text points elsewhere. Revising is not a failure; it is a response to new evidence.

Connect each prediction to identifiable words or details.
Allow more than one reasonable possibility when the text leaves matters open.
Use new clues to keep, adjust, or replace an earlier prediction.

3. Modelled reading: follow the clues

The first worked example shows the routine on Mina’s passage. The prediction concerns what may happen immediately after the final sentence, not a claim about the whole story.

Notice how the explanation distinguishes the text’s details from the reader’s interpretation. Saying “someone is definitely waiting to help” would go beyond the evidence. The light and chair scrape make that possibility reasonable, but they do not confirm it.

This routine also supports clear communication with another reader. A brief explanation can name the prediction, identify its clues, and state what remains uncertain. In a shared digital reading space, keep comments connected to the passage rather than repeating an unsupported claim as if it were confirmed.

A prediction should be traceable to details in the text.
Clear wording makes uncertainty visible.
A reader can explain a different prediction by pointing to different clues.

4. Guided practice: revise when the text changes what you know

In the second example, the added sentence gives a new clue. The task is not to defend the first prediction at all costs. Instead, notice what the new detail confirms, what it weakens, and what remains open.

For guided practice, you can pause after the original passage and write one prediction before reading the added sentence. Then read the addition and decide whether your prediction still fits. This makes the change in your thinking visible.

If you discuss your answer with a partner, compare the clues each of you selected. You may agree on the observations but make different predictions. Ask one another which exact detail supports each idea. A useful response considers the evidence rather than insisting that only one interpretation is possible.

A new detail may strengthen, weaken, or redirect a prediction.
Compare the new clue with the original evidence.
Feedback is most useful when it asks for the textual detail behind a prediction.

5. Independent practice and evidence-based feedback

Try the third example on your own. First, mark two details from the passage. Next, write a cautious prediction and connect it to those details. Finally, imagine one possible continuation and check whether it supports or changes your prediction. The aim is not to invent the one correct ending; it is to show how the textual clues guide your thinking.

When responding to someone else’s prediction, begin by identifying the clue they used. Then ask whether another detail could support a different possibility. For instance: “You connected the repeated glance at the clock with leaving soon. What do you make of the unopened notebook?” This invites evidence-based revision without taking over the other reader’s idea.

If you record your response digitally, reread it before sharing. Check that the clue is actually in the passage and that your wording presents a prediction as a possibility, not as a confirmed event. Keep your own voice: clear, specific language matters more than copying someone else’s phrasing.

Make your own prediction before reading the worked response.
Use feedback to check evidence, not to force agreement.
Revise your wording when it sounds more certain than the text allows.

Worked example

1. Predict from the passage

Use the original Mina passage. Predict one thing that may happen next. Identify the observations that support your prediction and one fact the passage does not yet establish.

Identify observations
The poster corner sags, Mina checks for tape, she looks toward the art room, light shows under its closed door, and a chair scrapes inside. These are details the passage states.
Connect clues to a possibility
One reasonable prediction is that Mina may knock or ask whether someone has tape. Her search for tape and attention to the room support that possibility.
Keep uncertainty clear
The passage does not confirm that anyone is in the room or that Mina will knock. Another possibility is that she waits or finds a different way to fix the poster.

Answer: Mina may ask for tape in the art room. The sagging poster, her search for tape, and her attention to the lit room support this prediction. The passage does not establish who is inside or what Mina will do.

Check: The answer names actual clues and labels the next event as a possibility.

Worked example

2. Revise with a new clue

After the original Mina passage, add this invented sentence: “A voice called, ‘I can lend you some tape.’” How should a prediction that Mina might ask for help change?

Notice what is new
The added sentence directly says that a voice offers tape. This is stronger evidence for help being available than the earlier light and chair scrape.
Adjust the prediction
A revised prediction is that Mina may accept the offer. The offer makes acceptance plausible, but the text still has not said what Mina chooses.
Keep the text and inference distinct
It is now a textual fact that a voice offers tape. It remains a prediction, not a fact, that Mina will take it.

Answer: Revise the prediction to: Mina may accept the offer of tape. The new sentence confirms that tape is offered, but does not tell us whether Mina accepts.

Check: The revision uses the new clue without claiming an unreported choice.

Worked example

3. Predict from a new passage

Read this invented passage and predict what the student may do next: “Jules set an unopened notebook beside the library computer. Twice, Jules glanced at the clock. A message appeared on the screen, and Jules leaned closer.” Name two clues and keep your prediction open to other possibilities.

Gather details
The notebook remains unopened, Jules checks the clock twice, and Jules leans closer when a message appears. These are observations, not explanations of Jules’s motives.
Make a supported prediction
Jules may read or respond to the message before opening the notebook. The close attention to the screen supports this possibility, and the repeated clock checks may suggest that time matters.
Allow another reading
Jules might instead be checking a message briefly before returning to the notebook. The passage does not identify the message or say why Jules looks at the clock, so both possibilities remain open.

Answer: One defensible prediction is that Jules may read or respond to the message before opening the notebook. The message and Jules’s closer look support it; the unopened notebook and clock checks leave other possibilities open.

Check: The prediction is grounded in two details and does not invent the message’s contents.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Reporting a prediction as though it has already happened.

Correction: Use wording such as “may” or “might,” and name what the text has not confirmed.

Making a prediction without pointing to a clue.

Correction: Identify the specific word, action, or detail that led you to the possibility.

Keeping an old prediction unchanged after a new clue appears.

Correction: Compare the new detail with your earlier reasoning and keep, adjust, or replace the prediction.

Treating a different evidence-based prediction as automatically wrong.

Correction: Check whether the other reader’s idea is supported by the text, even if you noticed different clues.

Lesson summary

Notice what the text explicitly says before deciding what may happen.
Make a prediction and connect it to identifiable textual clues.
Keep predictions open to more than one reasonable possibility.
Revise when new textual details change what seems likely.

Check your understanding

Question 1

A passage says, “Rae zipped her coat, picked up an umbrella, and looked at the dark clouds.” Which is a prediction rather than an observation?

Rae picked up an umbrella.
Dark clouds are mentioned.
Rae may expect rain.
Rae zipped her coat.

Show answer and explanation

Rae may expect rain.

The first, second, and fourth choices repeat details stated in the passage. Expecting rain is a possible interpretation of the umbrella and dark clouds, not a confirmed fact.

Question 2

You predicted that a character would leave. The next sentence says the character sits down and opens a book. What is the best response?

Keep the prediction exactly as it was because first predictions cannot change.
Revise the prediction because the new actions point in a different direction.
Ignore the new sentence and repeat the earlier prediction.
Claim the character has already left.

Show answer and explanation

Revise the prediction because the new actions point in a different direction.

Sitting down and opening a book are new clues that may weaken the prediction of leaving, so reconsidering it is appropriate.

Question 3

Which explanation best supports the prediction that a character may be worried?

The character is worried because I say so.
The character must be worried; no other reading is possible.
The character checks the door repeatedly, which may suggest worry, although the text does not state the reason.
The character will definitely leave in the next scene.

Show answer and explanation

The character checks the door repeatedly, which may suggest worry, although the text does not state the reason.

This explanation connects an actual textual detail to a cautious interpretation and leaves room for uncertainty.

Key terms

Textual clue: A word, action, or detail in a text that can support an idea about what may happen.
Observation: A detail the text explicitly states.
Prediction: A reasonable idea about what may happen or be revealed, based on textual clues.
Revise: To adjust an idea after considering new information.

Continue through ENL1W

View the complete ENL1W Ontario Grade 9 English curriculum and lessons

About this lesson and its review

Published by DoAssignment. This reviewed lesson follows Ontario Grade 9 English (ENL1W), expectation C2.3. It is a study resource, not an official curriculum publication.

Before publication, content is checked for structure, mathematical or chemical notation, calculations, course boundaries, and readability. Errors can still occur, so corrections are welcomed.

Official curriculum reference

Report a correction or ask a question