Grade
Skill/Strategy:
5
Unit
4
Week
2
Generalizations/Making Predictions
Essential Questions: How can I tell when I am reading a generalization? How can I make a valid
generalization?
Review: An author may write similar details about different things or people. You can use these similar details
to make a general statement that covers all the things or people. This statement is called a generalization. A
valid generalization can be supported by facts or details. A faulty generalization cannot. Sometimes an author
makes a generalization and uses words such as all, many, or in general to signal it. Active readers try to
predict what will happen next. When you read a generalization, be on the lookout for similar details that fit it.
You can also use a generalization to predict other derails that fit it.
Reading Street, Grade 5, Unit 4, p. 412.
Part A: Making a generalization
A generalization is a broad statement about people, animals, places, events and objects. Use the attached
poster to model different generalizations that could be made. Students should be able to find the part of the
poster that goes with the generalization.
Everyone is happy to be there.
Bees fly around flowers.
There are many kinds of racing.
Lighthouses are generally tall.
Many lighthouses are striped.
Most mountains have snow on the peak.
Read the selection about Physical Therapists on page 415.
A generalization is the opposite of a specific statement.
Explain the difference with these examples:
Specific statement
A physical therapist can help a football player
with an injured shoulder get back in the game.
Generalization
Physical therapists can help people who have
injured muscles or bones.
Then, ask students to match the specific statement with the generalization and explain which one is the
generalization and why.
A physical therapist feels great when they can help a person heal from a broken arm.
The work of a physical therapist can be very rewarding.
Exercise and training can help people move more easily.
Justin has CP. His therapist helps him use a large exercise ball to strengthen his muscles.
If you break your leg, after the cast comes off your leg muscles may be weak or shrunken.
After a major injury, muscles may need to be retrained.
A person who is in a wheelchair can see a physical therapist to help them move their muscles.
Everyone needs to work their muscles so they can stay strong.
Part B:
Read the paired selection, Helpful Tools, on pages 434-435. Ask students to write a
generalization or two about all of the tools on these two pages. To vary the task, give each set of
partners a different sentence beginning.
All of these tools are ______________________
None of these tools _______________________
Most of these tools _______________________
In general, these tools ____________________
Usually, these tools ______________________
Part C:
A generalization can help you make predictions. If you know that physical therapists help people
who have injuries to their bones and muscles and you are reading about a person who gets hurt
playing soccer, you know that they might end up going to see a physical therapist.
Discuss these questions with students, based on what they have learned this week:
1. What might you find in the house of a person who is blind?
2. If your teacher says he is going to physical therapy after work, what might be the reason?
3. If your grandmother has been wearing a cast on her arm for 2 months and then she gets it off,
what might she have to do next?
4. If you see someone in a wheelchair, what are some reasons that they might be in a
wheelchair?
5. A classmate has to go to physical therapy at the local pool after school every day. Why might
she say she cannot come over to play that night?
6. If a student in your school wears a brace on his leg, what would happen if you told him to hurry
up?
If there is extra time, ask students to discuss faulty and valid generalizations they might have on
different topics, such as children in wheelchairs, people who talk funny, wearing glasses, people
who live in big cities, teachers, police officers, movie stars, sports heroes, etc.
 people
 animals
 places
 events
 objects
A physical therapist feels great when they can help a person
heal from a broken arm.
If you break your leg, after the cast comes off your leg
muscles may be weak or shrunken.
A person who is in a wheelchair can see a physical therapist
to help them move their muscles.
Justin has CP. His therapist helps him use a large exercise
ball to strengthen his muscles.
The work of a physical therapist can be very rewarding.
After a major injury, muscles may need to be retrained.
Exercise and training can help people move more easily.
Everyone needs to work their muscles so they can stay
strong.