3rd–5th Grade
Cause 1
Effect 1
Name
Englishmen held
secret meetings.
Objectives
• Students will understand the relationship between
cause and effect.
• Students will identify the effect when given a cause.
Cause 2
Effect 2
The Separatists were
afraid they would be
jailed by the king.
Effect 3
Cause 3
The Pilgrims needed
a big boat to travel to
the New World.
Materials Needed
• …If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern
• “A Chain of Events” reproducible
• Cause & Effect Flip Book template
• Scissors
Book Title
Author
Introduction
Hold up the book …If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. Tell students that this story takes them back in time
so they can understand the events that led the Pilgrims to travel across the sea in search of a new life.
Ask students to listen carefully as you read aloud the passage titled “Where does the Pilgrim story begin?”
Then invite children to share what they learned about why the Pilgrims decided to leave England and travel to
America.
Procedure
1. Provide each student with the “A Chain of Events” reproducible.
2.Instruct students to fill in the book title and author.
3.Tell students that you would like them to identify three causes and effects from the passage. Remind them
that a “cause” is what leads to an event. That event is called the “effect.”
4.Model the first one for them by saying, “At the beginning of the passage, we read that some Englishmen held
secret meetings so they could have a church that was separate from the king’s church. This caused other
events to happen.” Read Cause 1 from the reproducible: “Englishmen held secret meetings.”
5.Say, “Think about what happened as a result of this event. Can anyone identify the effect?” Solicit responses
and affirm answers such as, “The king found out about the meetings and put some men in jail.” Then
encourage students to fill in Effect 1 on their papers.
Guided/Independent Practice
1. Read aloud the remaining two causes from the reproducible.
Cause 2: The Separatists were afraid they would be jailed by the king.
Cause 3: The Pilgrims needed a big boat to travel to the New World.
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2.Guide younger students through the process of looking back at the text to identify an effect of each event.
Invite older students to work with partners or individually to identify an effect of each event. For example:
Effect 2: The Pilgrims moved to Holland to be safe from punishment.
Effect 3: Some wealthy businessmen made a deal with the Pilgrims to buy the Mayflower.
3.Encourage students to explain how each pair of events is related.
Extension Activity
1. Have students identify three causes and effects from another text. You may choose to have students use a
classroom text or a book that they are reading independently.
2.Give each student a copy of the Cause & Effect Flip Book template and a pair of scissors.
3.Instruct students to fold the paper in half and cut along the dotted lines, taking care not to cut past the fold.
4.Have students write the title of the text on the first flap.
5.Beneath each of the next three flaps, have students draw a picture and write a sentence about an event
from the text.
6.Have students write and draw the cause of each event on the flap.
©Lakeshore www.lakeshorelearning.com
Cause 1
Englishmen held
secret meetings.
Cause 2
The Separatists were
afraid they would be
jailed by the king.
Cause 3
The Pilgrims needed
a big boat to travel to
the New World.
Book Title
Author
Effect 1
Effect 2
Effect 3
Name
© Lakeshore
3.
2.
1.
Under the flaps, draw and
write three events that
happen in the book.
Write your book title on
the first flap.
Fold the paper in half.
Then open it and cut
along the dotted lines.
Be careful not to cut
past the fold.
4.
Draw and write the cause
of each event on the flap.
…If You
Sailed on the
Mayflower
in 1620
by
Ann McGovern
The Pilgrims Some businessmen
Cause
Cause
moved to made a deal
The Pilgrims
Englishmen
needed a big
held secret Holland. with the Pilgrims.
boat to travel in.
meetings.
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