It also builds unity and appreciation, contextualizes the selection, and identifies content and language that may be new to the students. The secure and supportive environment also motivates students to take risks. All of the selections in a teaching unit are related to the same theme. The vocabulary and concepts developed for one selection become background knowledge for the next selection. This thematic approach also facilitates the learning of key concepts and vocabulary.
Themes allow students to associate words with a topic and make connections between words.
The teacher shows the reading selection to the students, who then work in groups of four to formulate their predictions about it. One child acts as a recorder in each group, and with the help of the other group members, writes a prediction. If consensus is not reached on one prediction, several predictions may be generated by the group. Later in the process, students are asked to read a story up to a certain point, then stop and make predictions before reading the rest of the story. Asking students to make predictions entices them to read the story more carefully and to use context clues more effectively as they work through the process of confirming or rejecting their predictions.