RECORD CAUSES AND EFFECTSHave students use a cause and effect chart to record the causes and effects in the selection.
DEMONSTRATE CAUSE AND EFFECTRemind students that an effect is what happens. A cause is why it happened. Demonstrate by turning out the lights. Ask:
What is the effect? (It is dark.)
What is the cause? (You turned off the lights.)
IDENTIFY CAUSE AND EFFECTWrite this sentence on the board: Because it is raining, I took my umbrella to school. Explain that sometimes a sentence has a clue word such as because, so, or since that signals a cause-and-effect relationship. Have volunteers circle the cause (it is raining) and the effect (I took my umbrella) and underline the clue word (because).
APPLY TO A SELECTIONRead with students a story that has causes and effects. Several causes can lead to one effect: Sunshine and water make flowers grow. One cause can lead to several effects: Leaving a bike in the hallway can cause someone to trip and break an arm.
Cause and Effect
Students who are able to connect what happens in a selection to the reason why it happens can better understand what they read. In fiction, this skill will help them figure out why characters do what they do. In nonfiction, it will give them a better grasp of factual information. Use the following routine to teach cause and effect.
Greenspan, Stanley, and Serena Weider. "Learning to Think Abstractly." Scholastic Early Childhood Today (May/June 1998).
Stanley Greenspan and Serena Weider,
Learning to Think Abstractly
"A great deal of our thought process has to do with cause and effect. To be fully fluent thinkers, children need to learn the logic of cause and effect."
Research on Cause and Effect
