CAUSE AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIPSBy Kristin Davis

May 2010

WHY TEACH CAUSE AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS?

This unit is intended for 2nd grade students, including students with Early Intermediate and Intermediate English language proficiency

I chose the theme of cause and effect relationships because it is a 2nd grade reading standard. The standard is listed as Literary Text: Develop an Interpretation- Describe cause-and-effect of specific events (EL.02.LI.06)

I also chose this theme because it is something that students have some background knowledge about because of being in cause and effect situations themselves. It is an important concept for students to understand because it is something that they will experience throughout their lives

TEXTS FOR TEACHING CAUSE AND EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorist

The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash by Steven Kellogg

The Berenstain Bears and the Truth by Jan and Stan Berenstain

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens All of these texts include cause and effect

situations/relationships.The texts include pictures and illustrations, which will be helpful for English Language Learners. The visuals of the illustrations will help them better understand the concept. Also, they are entertaining books that will keep students interested.

STRATEGIES USED THROUGHOUT UNIT TO HELP

ELL STUDENTS Visuals (pictures in books, pictures on posters,

sentence frames, etc.)

Sentence Frames (help students express their understanding of a cause and effect relationship and practice using the language)

Think Aloud (teacher helps model cause and effect relationships in read alouds)

Comprehension Questions (teacher asks comprehension questions about read alouds to help determine how well students are understanding cause and effect relationships in stories)

Think-Pair-Share (students will share ideas with each and model language as they share)

CONCEPTS TO BE UNDERSTOOD BY STUDENTS

The first concept that I want students to understand is what a cause is and what an effect is

The second concept that I want students to understand is what a cause and effect situation/relationship is

Cause Effect

SENTENCE FRAMES TO USED THROUGHOUT UNIT

Cause Effect ________, so ________. When ________, then ________. Since _______, _________.

Effect Cause ________ because ________.

LESSON #1: INTRODUCTION OF THE CONCEPT OF CAUSE AND EFFECT

Hang cause and effect poster and display sentence frames in pocket chart

Ask students to share if they know what ‘cause’ or ‘effect’ mean (maybe Think-Pair-Share)

Share with students the meaning of words Show students baggie with egg inside Drop egg and ask students what happened (students

answer) and ask them why that happened (students answer)

Draw a picture of the cause and effect on the poster and fill in sentence frames with student’s responses

LESSON #2: CAUSE AND EFFECT READ ALOUD

Review egg activity and meaning of ‘cause’ and ‘effect’

Review sentence frames Introduce Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No

Good, Very Bad Day by having students Think-Pair-Share about a bad day they have had and what happened to them

Have a few students share and discuss that the student’s job is to listen to the story for cause and effect situations

Read the story Have students identify cause and effect situations and

use cause and effect poster and sentence frames to record student’s responses

LESSON #3: CAUSE AND EFFECT READ ALOUD

Review meaning of ‘cause’ and ‘effect’ Introduce the read aloud by discussing what the words

‘boa’ and ‘wash’ mean Also have students make predictions about what they

think might happen in the story (maybe Think-Pair-Share)

Read The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash Discuss cause and effect situations throughout the

story by modeling and thinking aloud Fill in more on our cause and effect poster with a

situation or two that happened in the story Students use sentence frames to write another cause

and effect situation from the story

LESSON #4: CAUSE AND EFFECT MATCHING ACTIVITY

Review the meaning of ‘cause’ and ‘effect’ Review cause and effect situations that we have

discussed (in stories and in real-life) from previous lessons

Gather students in a circle on the floor and pick a volunteer to help me

Show students how to play cause and effect matching activity with a partner

Students will play with a partner Afterwards, they will work with their partner to fill out

cause and effect worksheet by picking 3 or 4 of their favorite cause and effect situations and drawing pictures or writing sentences

LESSON #5: REAL-LIFE CAUSE AND EFFECT SITUATIONS

Review the meaning of ‘cause’ and ‘effect’, as well as the poster and sentence frames

Introduce overhead with cause and effect fill-in-the-blank sentences

Students help me fill in the blanks Think of more real-life cause and effect situations and

write them in sentences