Year 1 English: What happens next?
Part of the Year 1 English stories and fairy tales chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page · Download worksheet (PDF) · Answers (PDF)
What happens next?
Good readers think about what might happen next. This is called predicting. To predict, we use clues from the story. A clue is a word or an idea that helps us guess.
Read The Big Cake. It stops before the end. What do you think happens next? Find the clues first.
The Big Cake
Today is Zainab’s birthday. Mum has made a big cake with six candles on top.
Mum puts the cake on the table. “Wait here, Zainab,” she says. “I need to get the plates.”
Mum goes to the kitchen.
Zainab looks at the cake. It looks so nice!
Bo, the dog, looks at the cake too. Bo sniffs. His tail goes swish, swish.
“No, Bo. Stay!” says Zainab.
Then Mum calls from the kitchen. “Zainab, come and help me!”
Zainab runs to help. She leaves Bo alone with the cake.
What do you think happens next?
Key ideas
- A prediction is a sensible guess about what will happen next.
- A good prediction uses a clue from the story.
- More than one prediction can be right, if it fits the clues.
- Stop and think before you read on.
Method. A prediction is a sensible guess. It must use a clue from the story.
- Find the clue. Read the clue carefully.Kit saw a dark cloud.
- Think about what usually follows. Dark clouds often bring rain.a dark cloud means rain may come
- Write your prediction. It must fit the clue.It might rain.
Check. The clue is a dark cloud, and the prediction fits the clue. ✓
Watch out. A prediction should fit the clue. Do not guess something that has no clue.
Method. Use the clues. Pick the sentence that fits the story best.
- Read choice A. A cake that flies away does not fit the story.A: The cake will fly away.
- Read choice B. Bo sniffs the cake, so Bo may take a bite.B: Bo may take a bite of the cake.
- Write the answer. B uses the clue that Bo sniffs.B
Check. Find the clue in the story: Bo sniffs. That is why B fits. ✓
Watch out. A guess must fit the story. A cake that flies away is not a sensible guess here.
Method. Use the clue that Mum said she needed the plates.
- Find the clue. Mum needed to get the plates.“I need to get the plates.”
- Think about what follows. Mum might come back with the plates.Mum comes back with the plates.
- Write the answer. The guess fits the clue.Yes. Mum said she needed the plates, so she may come back with them.
Check. The guess uses a clue from the story. ✓
Watch out. Guess from a clue in the story, not from something that is not in the story.
Watch out
Watch out: a prediction must fit the story so far. A guess that uses no clue does not fit the story.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Stop before the last line of a story and ask: “What do you think will happen? What clue made you think that?” Let your child be wrong sometimes. Then read on and find out together.
Exercise 8D Predicting and linking
Method. Look back at the story and find the words that answer the question.
- Find the clue in the story. The answer is in the box, or we can work it out from it.“Today is Zainab’s birthday.”
- Think about what the clue tells us. The first sentence tells us whose birthday it is.
- Write the answer. Answer with a short sentence or the word from the story.Zainab’s birthday
Check. Also accept: Zainab. Read your answer back to the story. It fits the clue. ✓
Watch out. The answer is in the story. Do not guess from what you think might happen.
Method. Look back at the story and find the words that answer the question.
- Find the clue in the story. The answer is in the box, or we can work it out from it.“six candles on top”
- Think about what the clue tells us. The sentence says there are six candles on the cake.
- Write the answer. Answer with a short sentence or the word from the story.six
Check. Also accept: 6. Read your answer back to the story. It fits the clue. ✓
Watch out. The answer is in the story. Do not guess from what you think might happen.
Method. Look back at the story and find the words that answer the question.
- Find the clue in the story. The answer is in the box, or we can work it out from it.“Mum puts the cake on the table.”
- Think about what the clue tells us. The sentence tells us where Mum puts the cake.
- Write the answer. Answer with a short sentence or the word from the story.on the table
Check. Also accept: the table. Read your answer back to the story. It fits the clue. ✓
Watch out. The answer is in the story. Do not guess from what you think might happen.
Method. Look back at the story and find the words that answer the question.
- Find the clue in the story. The answer is in the box, or we can work it out from it.“I need to get the plates.”
- Think about what the clue tells us. Mum says why she is leaving: she needs the plates.
- Write the answer. Answer with a short sentence or the word from the story.to get the plates
Check. Also accept: to get plates. Read your answer back to the story. It fits the clue. ✓
Watch out. The answer is in the story. Do not guess from what you think might happen.
Method. Look back at the story and find the words that answer the question.
- Find the clue in the story. The answer is in the box, or we can work it out from it.“Bo sniffs.”
- Think about what the clue tells us. The sentence tells us what Bo does when he sees the cake.
- Write the answer. Answer with a short sentence or the word from the story.He sniffs.
Check. Also accept: he sniffs the cake; he looks at it and sniffs. Read your answer back to the story. It fits the clue. ✓
Watch out. The answer is in the story. Do not guess from what you think might happen.
Method. Look back at the story and find the words that answer the question.
- Find the clue in the story. The answer is in the box, or we can work it out from it.“No, Bo. Stay!”
- Think about what the clue tells us. Zainab says these words to tell Bo to stay.
- Write the answer. Answer with a short sentence or the word from the story.No, Bo. Stay!
Check. Also accept: No, stay. Read your answer back to the story. It fits the clue. ✓
Watch out. The answer is in the story. Do not guess from what you think might happen.
Method. Use the picture to find the answer. The words in the story can help you check it.
- Look at the picture. Find the thing the question asks about.Bo is on the floor, under the table, near the cake.
- Check the words in the story. Bo sniffs the cake, and the picture shows him by the table.
- Write the answer. Use the picture and the story together.under the table
Check. Also accept: by the table; under the table. Point at the picture as you say the answer. ✓
Watch out. Look at the whole picture first. Then find the thing the question asks about.
Method. A prediction is a sensible guess. It must use a clue from the story.
- Find the clue. A clue is a word or idea that helps us guess what comes next.“She leaves Bo alone with the cake.”
- Think about what usually follows. Bo likes the cake and sniffs it, so he might take a bite.
- Write your prediction. It must fit the clue. More than one idea can be right.Bo may eat some of the cake.
Check. Also accept: Bo jumps up at the cake; Bo takes a bite; any other sensible guess that uses a clue. A guess with no clue does not fit the story. ✓
Watch out. A prediction should fit the story so far. Do not guess something that breaks the story.
Method. Link the story to something that happened to you, and say how you felt.
- Think about your own life. Think about a time you waited for something nice, like a cake, a present or a turn on the swing.
- Think of one true example. It can be something that really happened to you.
- Say it in a sentence. A whole sentence shows you understand.Answers will vary. For example: I felt excited, and I waited for my turn.
Check. Your answer can be different. It is right if it is true for you. ✓
Watch out. Tell a grown-up about your own time. Their answer can be different, and that is fine.
Method. A prediction uses a clue. Here the clue is in the new sentence, not in The Big Cake.
- Find the clue. A seagull is flying down close to the ice cream.a seagull is flying down
- Think about what usually follows. Seagulls often take food that is left out, so it may take the ice cream.food on the bench, a seagull close by
- Write your prediction. It must fit the clues.The seagull may take the ice cream.
Check. Also accept: the seagull swoops down and takes it; the girl runs back to get it. ✓
Watch out. A guess with no clue does not fit. Use the clue in the sentence.
Method. Use the clue: he has practised every day.
- Find the clue. He has practised every day.practised every day
- Think about what follows. Practice often helps a person do well, so he might win.practice helps
- Write your prediction. It fits the clue.He might win the race, because he has practised.
Check. Also accept: he may run very fast; any sensible guess that uses the clue. ✓
Watch out. You cannot be sure what will happen. A good prediction is a sensible guess that uses a clue.