LESSON SEVEN: Identify and Write About Cause and Effect Relationships

                             

LESSON DESCRIPTION

Students compare and contrast two subjects while writing a business letter.

 

GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS

R3B         Students will identify and analyze cause and effect relationships.

W3C       Students will include cause and effect relationships in writing.

 

LESSON MATERIALS

§         Sources of literature

 

§         Supplies 

o        Paper and pencil

o        Overhead

o        Think-Pair-Share description

 

§         Handouts provided

 

§         Words to Know

o        graphic organizer

o        cause and effect

 

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 

Students write a script in their cooperative groups for a brief news report about this issue.  Scripts must include three logical cause and effect relationships.  If instructional time is available, students may present their news report to the class.

 

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

1.        Say, “Your city was ranked 10th with regards to having the highest percentage of overweight citizens in the nation.  Talk to your partner (Think-Pair-Share, Kagan) about what this statement might imply.”

 

Questions

for

Students

What is a cause and effect relationship?

How does one effect lead to another effect?

How does a person identify true “cause and effect” relationships?

How do cause and effect relationships affect our lives?

How can we influence cause and effect situations?

 

2.        Define cause and effect relationships.  What are the causes and implications of this problem?  Use a fishbone graphic organizer on the overhead to facilitate class discussion.  The fins represent the causes and the head is the effect.

 

Suggestions

Explain to students that their news report will be assessed on content only.  Their performance is not being evaluated.

Be familiar with Fishbone and T-Chart graphic organizers.  See material section at the beginning of this unit.

Encourage students to think of additional effects of being overweight.

 

3.        Students continue the discussion in small groups (Kagan, S.) expanding the ideas using a T-Chart to provide specific effects for the various causes listed on the Fishbone graphic organizer. For example, students may have said eating fast food is one cause of the citizens’ problem.  Encourage students to see that eating fast food may lead to poor health.  Poor health, as an additional effect, could lead to a larger percentage of people having heart problems and diabetes.

 

Formative

Assessment

Scoring Guide

2 points:  Script establishes that there are at least three logical cause-and-effect relationships.

1 point:  Script establishes two logical cause-and effect relationships.

0 points:  Script establishes one or no logical cause-and effect relationship.