Copyright © 2007 Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. All rights reserved. Elaboration – Causal Chain A Direct TV commercialDirect TV commercial

Copyright © 2007 Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. All rights reserved. Causal Chain – examples Causal chain is a chain of cause/effect events (e.g., “a” causes “b” causes “c,” etc.) Can be one sentence or a series of sentences. Should be in the second or third paragraph. If you give us more time for a break, we will get more homework done, so our grades will be better, and our parents will be proud. If your mom forgets to buy gas, then you will run out of gas on the way to school, and then you will be late and get detention.

Copyright © 2007 Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. All rights reserved. If you give a mouse a cookie, He’s going to ask for a glass of milk. When you give him the milk, He’ll probably ask you for a straw. When he’s finished, he’ll ask for a nap. ? Try it Together

Copyright © 2007 Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. All rights reserved. Develop your Point with the Causal Chain (sentence or sentences separated by semi-colon) Mrs. Rawlins, I do not want you to put into effect the rule of no late homework. One reason is the grades. You see, it is scientifically proven that teenagers between the ages of eleven to sixteen need at least nine hours of sleep every night for their brain to function well; and if every teen in this middle school had to stay up later to complete their homework in order for it not to be late, their grades would plummet accordingly, and soon, grades would degenerate and dwindle to the average of a C or lower in most middle and high schools. All of this just because of the ‘no- late-work’ policy.

Copyright © 2007 Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. All rights reserved. Causal Chain – example with multiple sentences If the teachers of Pacific do not allow the students to turn in their homework late then the students will learn to finish their work on time, correct? This may be, but the Sink or Swim philosophy often leaves many students failing... If a student does not see themselves as being able to finish the assignment on time, they may simply decide to not do it. This would not only cause the student’s grades to fall, but also his or her teacher would likely spend unnecessary time trying to persuade the student to do work. This would not be only one student though! Many students would fall into this downward spiral of not doing their homework. This would result in many declining grades. This in turn would result in the school’s reputation declining. So how do we solve this?

You try! With a partner complete the following casual chain of events to make it get BETTER or more positive. If I eat breakfast…

You do! On your own complete the following idea to make it get WORSE or more negative. When it rains 8 inches…

POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE Causal chains can be used to prove your idea will make things better OR someone else’s ideas with make things worse. Don’t be afraid to try both kinds!

Copyright © 2007 Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. All rights reserved. Causal Chain – your turn Look in your writing packet at the Causal Chain examples. Find and underline the ENTIRE chain of ideas.