Learning Objective: Today we will identify the structure of a cause and effect text.

What are we Identifying today?

Structure of a cause and effect text!

The Importance of Identifying Cause and Effect Structures

• Understanding cause and effect helps you connect events that you learn about in your lessons.

• You can think about why events happened and what happened because of an event. If you understand what caused something to happen in history or in a science experiment, you can predict what might happen when similar events happen in the future.

• Understanding causes and effects helps you organize information in your head.

What would happen on a rainy day?

These are examples of cause and effect relationships!

Cause and Effect Text StructuresText structure is how a text is organized such as

compare and contrast, sequence, and cause and effect.

• A cause happens before an effect.• An effect happens as a result of a cause.• A cause can tell you why something

happened.• An effect can tell you what happened.

More on Cause and Effect

• When you read about why something happened, you are reading about a cause. Sometimes an event will have more than one cause.

• When you read about what happened because of something else, you are reading about an effect. Sometimes there will be more than one effect of a single cause.

When will you find cause and effect writing?

• Most of the time, you will see causes and effects in the same lesson.

• Cause and Effect signal words let you know that the author wants you to learn about causes and effects. When you see these words, you will know to pay careful attention to causes and effects.

More on Cause and EffectThe chart below shows some common cause and effect

signal words:

Example: There was a bad storm last night, as a result the electricity in the neighborhood went off for two hours.

Let’s practice!Creating multi-flow maps can help you diagram cause and effect structures

in text!

Suppose you read a sentence that starts, "The pool was closed because…." If you kept reading, you would find out what caused

the pool to close. The word because is a signal word that lets you know that you will be reading about a cause and an effect.

You can create a flow map to show this!

pool closedbroken pipe

(cause) (effect)

Sometimes there can be many causes and only one effect. The diagram below shows many causes. Think of another possible

cause of missing the bus and write it in the multi-flow map.

You lose your shoe.

You wake up late.

You miss the bus.

If only one of the things happened, you might have been on time. But all three

made you miss the bus.

Sometimes there are many effects for only one cause. The diagram below shows two effects. Think of another possible

effect of an alarm that doesn’t go off and write it in the multi-flow map

Alarm doesn’t go off

Miss breakfast

Steps to identifying cause and effect structures in texts.

1. Read the text2. Look for signal or clue words in the text and

then underline them3. Decide whether this text has cause and effect

structure4. Check for understanding filling in a multi-flow

map

Let’s Practice!

There are possible reasons why my father is in excellent health, even though he is over eighty years of age. For one thing, he is in excellent condition because

he has stopped smoking cigarettes. He quit smoking cigarettes because whenever he climbed stairs he would invariably stop several times and cough loudly. His good health is also due to his

cutting down on the wrong kinds of food.

Steps to identifying cause and effect structures in text

1. Read the text2. Look for signal or clue words

in the text and then underline them

3. Decide whether this text has cause and effect structure

4. Check for understanding filling a multi-flow map

My father is in good health

Cutting down the wrong kinds of foods

He stopped smoking

Let’s Practice!The invention of the rocket has sometimes had negative

effects on human society. For example, these devices have been used in warfare. As a result people have

sometimes been killed. Rocket technology has improved with time, so rocket engines have come to

possess greater range. Deadly “warheads” can be sent to reach targets far away from the launch site. As a result of the development of nuclear power, a rocket with a nuclear warhead can be the cause of the deaths of millions of people in a few moments.

Steps to identifying cause and effect structures in text

1. Read the text2. Look for signal or clue words in

the text and then underline them3. Decide whether this text has

cause and effect structure4. Check for understanding filling a

multi-flow map

Invention of rockets

Rockets have improved in time, now millions could

die

Used in warfare

People have been killed

Let’s Practice!Even though Arizona and Rhode Island are

both states of the U.S. they are strikingly different in many ways. For example, the

physical size of each state is different. Arizona is large, having an area of 114,000

square miles, whereas Rhode Island is only about a tenth of the size, having an

area of only 1,214 square miles.

Steps to identifying cause and effect structures in text

1. Read the text2. Look for signal or clue words in

the text and then underline them3. Decide whether this text has

cause and effect structure4. Check for understanding filling a

multi-flow map

Let’s Practice!Hurricanes are high-speed windstorms that start over the

ocean and can have winds as fast as 250 km/hour. Hurricanes usually occur over oceans, near the equator.

They are formed when warm, wet air is forced upward by heavier cool air. The air pressure drops quickly from the

outer edge towards the center. Next, the winds move in a circular pattern around the center, “eye,” of the hurricane.

In the “eye,” the winds stop and the clouds lift, but the ocean below remains violent. The average hurricane

covers an area of at least 240 km. When the storm is over land, these winds destroy life and property.

Steps to identifying cause and effect structures in text

1. Read the text2. Look for signal or clue words in

the text and then underline them3. Decide whether this text has

cause and effect structure4. Check for understanding filling a

multi-flow map

The air pressure drops quickly from the outer

edge toward the centerHurricanes

Warm , wet air is forced upward by cooler air

Winds move in a circular pattern around the “eye”

Steps to identifying cause and effect structures in text

1. Read the text2. Look for signal or clue words

in the text and then underline them

3. Decide whether this text has cause and effect structure

4. Check for understanding filling a multi-flow map

Now you are going to do this on your own!

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On your own! You will read each of the paragraph and decide whether it is has cause and effect structure. Underline signal or clue words. Then check for understanding by filling in a multi-flow map.

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What text structure did we identify today?

Cause and Effect structures in text!

Why is it important to identify cause and effect text structures?

Closure1. Martha was late to school because her alarm

clock was broken.2. Tom and Jerry are very different animals, but

they do share some similarities. They both enjoy annoying one another.

3. Sam did not want to move to Chicago, therefore he begged his parents if they could stay in Texas. Step 1 Read text

Step 2: Identify signal wordsStep 3: Ask yourself is this tell what happened and why it happened