Ending Investigator Lab

This worksheet supports students in Grades 4 and 5 as they strengthen narrative comprehension and prediction skills by analyzing story beginnings and inferring likely endings. Learners read two engaging story excerpts, examine tone, dialogue, and plot clues, and then craft thoughtful predictions that logically extend the narrative, explaining how the text guided their thinking.

Learning Goals

• Predicting Story Endings (Grades 4-5) – Students infer how a story may conclude based on early clues and narrative setup.
• Analyzing Narrative Elements – Learners consider tone, character behavior, dialogue, and setting to anticipate outcomes.
• Cause-and-Effect in Stories – Reinforces how early events and hints lead to later consequences.
• Metacognitive Reasoning – Students explain why their predicted ending makes sense using text evidence.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with upper-elementary reading comprehension standards.
• Mystery-Driven Engagement – Story excerpts spark curiosity while providing enough evidence for logical predictions.
• Author’s Craft Awareness – Helps students think like writers by recognizing how clues foreshadow endings.
• Flexible Classroom Use – Ideal for guided reading, literacy centers, independent practice, writing workshops, or assessment.

This ending investigator lab worksheet helps students become strategic, reflective readers by practicing how to anticipate narrative outcomes using evidence rather than guesswork. By connecting story beginnings to likely conclusions and justifying their reasoning, learners strengthen comprehension, critical thinking, and confidence in interpreting narrative structure. Whether used in a classroom or homeschool setting, this printable resource offers meaningful, low-prep practice that builds strong prediction and analysis skills.

This worksheet is part of our Making Predictions Worksheets collection.