Graphic Organizer Strategy:
Cause and Effect
Heading:
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Penguin Group Platinum Edition
Context: This strategy will be introduced at the beginning of the novel but will be used
throughout the reading of the novel as students come across various examples they may be able
to include in the organizer. We discover many things about Melinda throughout the novel,
including the ways in which she exhibits her suffering. We do not learn until later what all of
these things resulted from. The first three marking periods (pages 1 through 137) will be the
most important parts of the novel as related to this activity, but the students can keep adding
through till the end of the book.
Statement of Purpose: We use the graphic organizer strategy to help students organize and sort
out information, giving their brains a more organized way to understand concepts and patterns
within a text. It is a do-it-as-you-go activity, influencing careful reading.
This specific organizer is useful for students in connecting cause and effect in the novel,
especially the effects of rape on a teenage girl. They can connect the things we learn about
Melinda throughout the book to the cause of her actions and habits—rape. This will influence a
careful and attentive reading of the character as well as help them to sort important information
from unimportant information.
Directions:
Step 1: (Materials) Make copies of the graphic organizer hand out.
Step 2: (Time: 5 minutes) Pass out the handout to students. If the novel hasn’t already been
introduced, explain that we notice the effects of something very serious which happens to
Speak’s main character, Melinda. Let them know that as we read as a class and in their personal
reading, they should fill out the effects/symptoms that Melinda shows as a result of something
bad happening to her. Ultimately, the students will use the information in the organizer to
complete a final assignment.
Step 3: (Time: 15 minutes) Read the first chapter as a class. Review the main things that we have
learned about Melinda (e.g. she is friendless, an outsider). Have them write this down with a
page number in one of the boxes at the top of the tree. Instruct them to hold on to this handout
and to continue writing down these important effects as they read at home. Remind them of this
daily when reading assignments are given.
Step 4: Issue a final assessment (several ideas are in the concept analysis) where they must
incorporate their understanding of rape or its effects. There are creative possibilities—poetry or
visual representations—as well as more formal ones (basic essays). They should integrate their
knowledge of facts with the novel, deciding whether Speak accurately portrays the facts.
Speak: Cause and Effect(s)
Name: _________________________________ Date: __________________ Period: _______
Instructions: As we read Speak, fill in the boxes on the tree branches with the negative symptoms
(effects) that Melinda displays in the novel (with page numbers). When we find out what
happened to Melinda, we will be able to find the root of the problem and fill in the box on the
bottom of the tree.
Speak Graphic Organizer Key (Possibilities)
Chews her lip
Sleeps
No friends
Hides in
her closet
Grades
suffer
Doesn’t speak
to her parents
or anyone
Seeks comfort
in art
Rape