Subject:  Cause and Effect                                                                                                                Grade:  3

 

Standard:  Reading Comprehension

 

Key Concept: Locate appropriate and significant information from the text, including problems and solutions.

 

 

Generalization:  Recognize clue words that signal the effect as something that happens and the cause as the reason something happens.

 

 

Background:  Introduce the students to cause and effect by using the story Thunder Cake in the 3^rd grade Scott Foresman reading series. 

Read the story and complete the cause and effect activities that are in the teacher’s manual.  Students should be able to identify cause and

effect in sentences.  Based on the progress of the Thunder Cake cause and effect activities, students will be placed in groups.

 

 

Tiered in:  content

 

Tiered according to:  readiness        

 

 

Tier I:  Students will categorize 15-20 cause phrases and effect phrases written on sentence strips and place them in the appropriate piles.

(Cause and effect phrases will be used from Thunder Cake and recently read stories from the reading book).  After the phrases have been

put in the appropriate piles and the teacher has checked them, the students will match the causes with the effects to make complete

sentences.  Students can now try to write some of their own cause/effect sentences.

 

 

 

Tier II:  Students will add either a cause or effect to what is written on a sentence strip.  If a cause is written, the students will write

an effect to make it complete.  If an effect is written, the students will write a cause to make it complete.  Causes will be underlined by

the students in red and effects will be underlined in blue.  Students will complete 20-25 sentences and share them with their group members.  

 

Examples:  The glass slipped out of my hand _______________.  Student adds the cause.

                _____________ my hair got wet.  Student adds the effect.

 

 

Tier III:  Students will use personal life experiences to write their own cause and effect sentences about themselves.  Each student will

write 12-15 sentences and underline the causes in red and the effects in blue.  Each student will write his/her sentences on chart paper. 

Students will then each choose one sentence and write a paragraph using the cause/effect sentence.

 

 

Assessment:  Teacher will informally assess by observing the students and placing a checkmark by each student’s name upon

completion of the activity.