Children understand that there are consequences for their actions, but they need concrete examples and guided practice to be able to see the relationships when they are reading, writing, speaking, or listening.
Materials
- copies of graphic organizer for cause and effect
- pencils
- textbooks or tradebooks
- scissors
- small plastic bags
Cause and Effect Lesson Plan Objectives
- Students will identify words, i.e. because, since, so, consequently that signal a cause and effect relationship.
- Students will identify cause and effect relationships
- Students will match causes and effects
Procedure: Teaching Cause Effect Relationship
Perform some action that is unusual in the classroom. Push a basket filled with markers off a desk and onto the floor. Ask students what happened. When they answer that the basket fell off the desk, ask them why it fell off. When they say that you pushed it, tell them that an action that makes something else happen is called a cause.
Explain that the thing that happens as a result of something else happening is called an effect. The water fell because you pushed it. The water fell was the effect and you pushed it was the cause.
Write these sentences on the dry erase board.
- It rained all day so the children stayed inside.
- Since her green shirt was dirty, she wore her blue one.
- Ben was sleepy this morning because he stayed up late last night.
- Judy and Barb were friends, so they were always together.
Ask for a volunteer to draw one line under the cause of the first sentence and two lines under the effect. Explain that the cause is often, but not always found at the beginning of sentences. Ask for volunteers to complete the rest of the sentences and guide them through the activity.
Words Signal Relationship
Tell students that certain words are used as signals that a relationship exists between two events. Tell them to look for words like these:
- so
- since
- because
- as a result
- consequently
Give students copies of the cause and effect graphic organizer. Ask them to use a textbook or a trade book to look for cause and effect relationships. Tell them to write the cause for each one on the left column and the effect under the right column. When students have finished ask them to share their work with the rest of the class. Ask students if they can identify the signal words that connect the causes and effects in the sentences.
Ask a student to give everyone a pair of scissors and a plastic bag. Tell them to cut each of their causes and effects from the graphic organizer and place them in the plastic bags. They should have four causes and four effects. Have a student collect the bags. Ask another student to give them back to the class so that no one gets his own. Tell the students to match causes and effects by placing the cards side by side on their desks.
Walk around the room, checking to see that everyone is able to match their cards and asking which words are signal words.
The idea that one action causes another to happen is one that is crucial for students to learn. The ability to relate causes to effects enables students to read and understand what happened and why it happened in their reading and to analyze what is happening in the world around them. Practice through activities similar to the ones above will help students with this skill.
