NM PED 2026 Literacy and Humanities Summer Conference

Anticipation guides stimulate students' interest in a topic and set a purpose for reading by teaching them to make predictions, anticipate the text, and verify their findings. This powerful pre-reading strategy is particularly effective in the elementary classroom because it activates background knowledge, sparks curiosity, and establishes a clear focus for the reading task.

By presenting thought-provoking statements connected to key concepts in the text, teachers encourage students to predict, agree or disagree, and engage in meaningful discussion before reading begins. In this session, participants will learn how to create and implement effective anticipation guides, with a focus on intentionally embedding essential vocabulary and academic language into these statements to provide early exposure to critical terms in context.

As students revisit the guide during and after reading, they refine their thinking, deepen comprehension, and make stronger connections between new vocabulary and the text’s central ideas. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for designing these guides in their own classrooms, gaining tools to intentionally strengthen student vocabulary development and reading comprehension through purposeful pre-reading engagement.