Grade 4 Reading: Card #
Week of
Target Skill: Cause and Effect—
Informational Texts
Curriculum Alignment
Skill Review
When students read nonfiction, awareness of cause-effect relationships
helps them better understand concepts and topics ranging from historical
events to scientific processes. This understanding of causal relationships
also assist students in remember the concepts being presented. In order to
successfully identify cause-and-effect relationships, readers must
understand that a cause is a person, thing, or event that makes something
happen and that an effect is what happened as a result. Readers must also
understand that there may be more than one cause for an event, and that
there may be several effects of a cause. Struggling readers may benefit
from using sequence chains or other graphic organizers that allow them to
see cause-and-effect relationships.
South Carolina Grade-Level Standard
4-2 The student will read and comprehend a variety of
informational texts in print and nonprint formats.
Indicator
4-2.8 Analyze informational texts to identify cause-and-effect
relationships.
Success Strategies
1. Tell students that when they look for cause-and-effect relationships, they are trying to identify a logical connection between something
that happens and who or what caused it to happen. Explain that the cause is a person, thing, or event that makes something happen, and the
effect is what happened. Students can identify effects by asking themselves What happened? and causes by asking Why did it happen?
2. Review the words that may signal the presence of cause-and-effect relationships, such as because, so, since, thus, as a result, therefore,
and if/then.
3. Provide these steps for recognizing cause-and-effect relationships in informational texts.
o
o
o
Begin with an important action or event in the text. Ask yourself what led to it, or what caused it to happen.
Look to see if there are any key signal words and phrases such as since, due to, or because that can help you identify the cause of the
action or event.
Look at the same action or event, or a new one. Ask yourself what happened as a result of the action or event, or what its effects were.
Signal words and phrases such as so, therefore, and as a result will help you identify effects.
4. Have students identify cause and effect by presenting common incidents and having students analyze them.
SC Companion Guide
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5. Find a passage in a textbook on a topic students are currently studying, such as how changes are made in the earth’s surface. Model
identifying effects by asking What happens? and causes by asking Why does it happen? Model filling out a cause-and-effect chain or other
organizers to clearly depict cause-and-effect relationships.
Testing the Skill
Use your own texts with questions like the samples below to prepare students for the high-stakes test.
1. What effect did cutting down trees have on the American swift?
A.
B.
C.
D.
It died out because it had nowhere to live.
It built its nest in hollow chimneys.*
It moved to new nesting areas.
It stopped building nests and having babies.
2. According to the article, what causes most earthquakes?
A.
B.
C.
D.
the movement and vibration of underground rock
the pushing apart or pulling together of Earth’s crust*
the release of energy from Earth’s core
the movement of the tides in the ocean
3. Use the information in the passage to explain three reasons why the North won the Civil War.
4. According to the passage, what are two causes and two effects of laughter?
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