1. Reading Street Comprehension Skills: Cause and Effect
Grades 4 and 5

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Cause and Effect
Student Expectations
Students define cause and effect.
Students identify cause and effect relationships.
Students speculate on related scenarios and their causes and effects after reading.
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Cause and Effect
Why did these events happen? How might they have been different if the causes had been different?
Are there several causes that result in single effect?
Is there a single cause that has several effects?
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Cause and Effect
What do you know about cause and effect?
Let’s discuss some terms that will help us understand cause and effect.
-An effect is something that happens.
-A cause is why that thing happens.
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Cause and Effect
There are clue words to look for when identifying cause and effect: because, so, since, therefore, as a result.
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Cause and Effect
Sometimes causes are not stated.
Ask yourself these questions to figure out cause and effect while reading:
-”Why might this have happened?”
-”Why did this probably happen?”
Some paragraphs have more than one cause and effect relationship.
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Cause and Effect
One cause can have one effect.
HOWEVER
One effect may have several causes and one cause may have several effects.
For example: Think of the effects of a hurricane (one cause, many effects). Think of being grounded (one effect, many causes).
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Cause and Effect
Determine the cause and effect:
-The window was shattered.
-The boy threw a rock.
NEXT
-I did not tie my shoes.
-I tripped when I was running.
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Cause and Effect
Cause: The boy threw a rock. Effect: The window was shattered. Cause: I did not tie my shoes. Effect: I tripped when I was running.
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