Ready-to-teach lesson
ELA SKILL LESSON · GRADES 2-3
Princess Angelica, Part-Time Lion Trainer
Working Out Where a Lion Would Hide
- TIME
- 30 minutes full · 15 minutes short
- PRIMARY SKILL
- Build and test a prediction from evidence
- OBJECTIVE
- Use several pieces of evidence about a character or animal’s likely state to generate a search prediction, then test that prediction against what happens.
- STUDENT EVIDENCE
- A three-row inference sheet, a predicted search location or strategy, and a check against the outcome.
- ESSENTIAL QUESTION
- What makes a prediction evidence-based instead of a guess?
Before teaching
Read or play the complete book before the timed lesson. Keep the book available so claims and evidence can be checked against the text. Book-specific targets: Use Jelly's three pieces of reasoning about what the escaped lioness is likely feeling or needing, then follow the search that reasoning produces.
- Materials:
- the book, Student Evidence page, pencil.
- Lesson sequence
- TIME
- TEACHING MOVE
- 4 min
- Collect the evidence Record the relevant feelings, needs, or conditions described in the book.
- 6 min
- Turn evidence into constraints For each row, say what kind of place or action it makes more likely.
- 7 min
- Make the prediction Choose a location or search strategy that fits all rows.
- 8 min
- Test it Compare the prediction with the book’s search and outcome.
- 5 min
- Explain the result State whether the prediction was supported and which evidence mattered most.
ELA SKILL LESSON · TEACHER SUPPORT
Princess Angelica, Part-Time Lion Trainer
Working Out Where a Lion Would Hide
Access routes
- SOLO
- Use the book independently to complete the evidence page. Require book-based support for the reasoning.
page 1
- SUPPORTED
- Pause at the key evidence moments. Rephrase the task orally, then have students point to or record evidence before explaining.
- LISTENING
- Use narration and illustrations. Ask the same book-specific questions orally and accept pointing, choosing between evidence already visible in the book, drawing, or an oral explanation. Do not require teacher-invented answer choices.
- EXTEND
- Apply the same reasoning move to a second moment in the book or ask students to explain why a tempting alternative is weaker.
Teacher guidance
Keep evidence and prediction separate. Students should be able to point to each constraint before they name the place or strategy they expect.
Book-specific answer anchors
- The inference must start with the three feelings/evidence points Jelly names for the escaped
lioness in the book. Students should record those three book-given clues before naming a location;
do not substitute Jelly's relationship with Mwezi for this reasoning step.
- The supported location is the parking lot. A reliable answer makes the chain explicit: the three
feelings/evidence points narrow where Mwezi would go, Jelly predicts the parking lot, and the search tests that prediction.
- The prediction is confirmed when Mwezi is located in the parking lot. Jelly then helps return the
lioness safely to her enclosure. The key outcome is evidence -> predicted hiding place -> check -> confirmation.
Assessment
- Several pieces of evidence are recorded before the prediction.
- The prediction fits the recorded constraints.
- The student checks the prediction against the text and can identify the strongest supporting
evidence.
Short route · 15 minutes
3 min - name/model the skill. 8 min - gather the minimum evidence required on the student page. 4 min - explain the answer and verify it against the book.
Watch for
Guessing a location first and then retrofitting evidence after the answer is known.
Source note
Extracted and audited as a standalone from the ELA unit Using the Evidence. No regional standards are attached to this standalone skill lesson.
STUDENT EVIDENCE · GRADES 2-3
Princess Angelica, Part-Time Lion Trainer
Working Out Where a Lion Would Hide
Name ______________________________________ Date __________________ A three-row inference sheet, a predicted search location or strategy, and a check against the outcome.
page 2
EVIDENCE 1
EVIDENCE 2
EVIDENCE 3
MY PREDICTION
WHAT HAPPENED / CHECK
EXIT CHECK
What makes a prediction evidence-based instead of a guess?
_________________________________________________
TEACHER KEY · GRADES 2-3
Princess Angelica, Part-Time Lion Trainer
Working Out Where a Lion Would Hide
Book-specific answer anchors
- The inference must start with the three feelings/evidence points Jelly names for the escaped
lioness in the book. Students should record those three book-given clues before naming a location;
do not substitute Jelly's relationship with Mwezi for this reasoning step.
- The supported location is the parking lot. A reliable answer makes the chain explicit: the three
feelings/evidence points narrow where Mwezi would go, Jelly predicts the parking lot, and the search tests that prediction.
- The prediction is confirmed when Mwezi is located in the parking lot. Jelly then helps return the
lioness safely to her enclosure. The key outcome is evidence -> predicted hiding place -> check -> confirmation.
Expected student evidence
- Several pieces of evidence are recorded before the prediction.
- The prediction fits the recorded constraints.
- The student checks the prediction against the text and can identify the strongest supporting
evidence.
Watch for
Guessing a location first and then retrofitting evidence after the answer is known.
Independent success
The student completes the required evidence product, uses the named book-specific evidence above, and can explain the reasoning move without relying only on recall or a teacher-supplied answer.
Unit source
Using the Evidence · Princess Angelica, Part-Time Lion Trainer by Monique Polak
page 3