For younger classes, the concept of foreshadowing is introduced through the method of simple prediction. The teacher may display the title and cover of a picture book and call on the class to make predictions about what the book is about. As the book is read aloud, the teacher can stop at several points and discuss how the predictions have or have not turned out, and ask for predictions regarding the rest of the story. By introducing the concept that events later in the story can be predicted by earlier elements, the students are made open to the idea of looking for and interpreting foreshadowing elements in a story.
A classroom discussion on foreshadowing can be greatly augmented by the use of a foreshadowing chart. On a large sheet of paper at the front of the classroom, the teacher can write down the predictions of the students. As the story continues and more predictions are called for, the teacher can write modifications to existing predictions in a second color and add new predictions in a third. In this way, students can easily track which predictions were accurate and how the predictions evolve as more information is made available. This allows them to gain a good grasp on which predictive strategies are most successful.
Moving on from simple prediction, the teacher should ask students to explain why they think their predictions will come true, based on clues gleaned from the cover art, title and the portion of the story read so far. By requiring the students to justify their predictions, the exercise leads them to think critically about their predictions rather than basing them on marginal evidence or their own imaginations. This will also require them to think more deeply about the individual elements of the story as it is read and tie them together into a coherent narrative, rather than just going with the flow.
A more advanced approach to foreshadowing involves students predicting the outcome of the story as a whole based on a number of foreshadowing elements, rather than predicting individual events based on individual context clues. The teacher can choose a story with strong elements of foreshadowing, such as a mystery, and read half of it to the class. The class can then discuss the foreshadowing elements they have identified so far and attempt to forecast the rest of the story in its entirety, citing foreshadowing elements and defending their predictions. The predictions should be charted on a foreshadowing chart. When the class has finished predicting the end of the story, the chart should be examined and marked according to which predictions were most accurate, which cited elements were actually foreshadowing and which were red herrings or incidental to the plot. In this way, students can learn to link multiple instances of foreshadowing together in order to inform their understanding of an ongoing plot and its likely conclusion.