In reading after lunch, a teacher asks students, 'What do you think this book is about?' What cognitive process is this promoting?

In reading after lunch, a teacher asks students, 'What do you think this book is about?' What cognitive process is this promoting?

• A. Trying to find out which students are interested in the book
• B. Trying to find out which students are good readers
• C. Hoping to keep the students awake since they tend to get sleepy after lunch
• D. Hoping the students will make a prediction, using hypothetical thinking

Answer: (D)

Fostering predicting through hypothetical thinking. When you ask students what they think the book is about, you’re inviting them to form a hypothesis about the text’s topic based on clues from the title, cover, or initial pages. This activates a cognitive habit of thinking ahead and using evidence to guess what might come next or what the theme could be, which strengthens comprehension as they read. It’s not about gauging interest or measuring who can read well, nor about simply keeping them awake; those are more about motivation or behavior. The value here is engaging students in making a reasoned prediction about the book’s content, using hypothetical thinking to connect clues with possible meanings.

Fostering predicting through hypothetical thinking. When you ask students what they think the book is about, you’re inviting them to form a hypothesis about the text’s topic based on clues from the title, cover, or initial pages. This activates a cognitive habit of thinking ahead and using evidence to guess what might come next or what the theme could be, which strengthens comprehension as they read. It’s not about gauging interest or measuring who can read well, nor about simply keeping them awake; those are more about motivation or behavior. The value here is engaging students in making a reasoned prediction about the book’s content, using hypothetical thinking to connect clues with possible meanings.