Cause and Effect is a great reading skill to teach students, but it is also a great life skill. When students fully understand cause and effect they can begin making connections in their reading comprehension. That is why it is suggested to teach this skill towards the beginning of the year. In this post, I will share my top 3 favorite ways to teach cause and effect, PLUS a fun freebie!
The Cause and Effect Example
Capture your student’s attention and really engage them in this new skill by doing some really funny actions and then having them determine the cause and effect.
Examples could include:
1. Take a box of supplies from your classroom and drop them all over (more than likely a student will run to clean them up, the effect)
2. Lay down and fake like you are taking a nap, do this for a few minutes and watch reactions
3. Drop an egg on the floor
Cause and Effect Chain
This is a simple activity that can make a big difference in their understanding of the cause and effect reading skill.
Grab some strips of construction paper and make a chain. Give the first student one that says, “School was canceled” and then let each student add an effect and continue this.
You can even start several chains and at the end have students figure out causes and effects that connect the two.
These activities give students a great way to see how one cause and effect typically leads to another.
The Cause and Effect Circle of FUN FREEBIE
The students have to read a short story and identify the cause and effect in the story by answering two questions. If they answer the questions correctly, they get to move on to a task. These tasks are fun, like creating a handshake with someone or doing 10 pushups. If they get it incorrect they go backward, complete that task, and come back to try again. If they get it incorrect again, they find you for a quick reteach lesson.
Do you want even more fun and engaging activities for cause and effect?! Grab a full week’s worth of lesson plans for whole group and small group here!
Hannah Wilde
I am so glad you’re here! I love helping 3rd-5th grade teachers by providing ideas, engaging resources, and professional development they need. I am a literacy coach who is here to help lessen the workload for teachers while making them more confident! I want students to be continually engaged in a rigorous environment!