Cause and Effect | Reading Strategies | EasyTeaching

Summary

This script educates on identifying cause and effect relationships in texts, crucial for understanding events and their reasons. It explains the sequence of cause preceding effect and uses examples like rain causing wetness and late nights leading to tiredness. The script also highlights the importance of signal words in texts, such as 'so', 'due to', and 'because', which indicate cause and effect. It encourages practice in identifying these relationships in sentences to enhance comprehension.

Takeaways

• 🧐 Identifying cause and effect in texts is crucial for understanding events and their reasons.
• 🕒 A cause is an event that happens first and explains why something occurs.
• 💧 An effect is what happens after the cause and describes the outcome.
• 🌧️ Example: It rained (cause), Carolina got wet (effect).
• 🌙 Another example: Phil stayed up late (cause), Phil was tired in the morning (effect).
• 📚 Cause and effect relationships are common in everyday life and can be found in various scenarios.
• 📚 Studying hard leads to better grades, forgetting sunscreen leads to sunburn, playing in mud leads to being muddy.
• 🔍 Signal words in texts can help identify cause and effect relationships.
• 🔍 Examples of signal words: 'so', 'due to', 'because', 'since', 'if'.
• 🤒 In the sentence 'Wendy was feeling sick so she stayed home from school', 'so' indicates the effect (staying home) follows the cause (feeling sick).
• 🌊 In 'The swimming carnival was cancelled due to bad weather', 'due to' shows the cause (bad weather) and the effect (cancellation).

Q & A

Why is identifying cause and effect in texts important?

Identifying cause and effect in texts is important as it helps us to understand the events that are happening, what’s happening, and why it’s happening.

What is a cause in the context of cause and effect?

A cause is an event that happens first and explains why something happens.

How can you determine the cause in a cause and effect relationship?

To find the cause, you can ask the question ‘Why did this happen?’

What is an effect in the context of cause and effect?

An effect is an event that happens after the cause and tells us what happened.

Can you provide an example of a cause and effect relationship?

An example is 'It rained. Carolina got wet.' Here, it raining is the cause and Carolina getting wet is the effect.

What is another example of a cause and effect relationship mentioned in the script?

Another example is 'Phil stayed up late. Phil was tired in the morning.' Here, Phil staying up late is the cause and Phil being tired in the morning is the effect.

How can everyday scenarios illustrate cause and effect relationships?

Everyday scenarios such as studying hard leading to better grades, forgetting sunscreen leading to sunburn, or playing in the mud leading to getting muddy, illustrate cause and effect relationships.

Why are signal words important in identifying cause and effect relationships in texts?

Signal words are important because they indicate that there might be a cause and effect relationship occurring, making it easier for the reader to spot and understand the relationship.

Can you give an example of a cause and effect relationship with a signal word?

The sentence 'Wendy was feeling sick so she stayed home from school.' uses the signal word 'so' to indicate that Wendy feeling sick is the cause and her staying home is the effect.

What is the cause and effect relationship in the sentence 'The swimming carnival was cancelled due to bad weather'?

In this sentence, the cause is the bad weather and the effect is the swimming carnival being cancelled.

How can you identify the cause and effect in the sentence 'The children were hungry because they hadn’t eaten all day.'?

The cause is 'they hadn’t eaten all day' and the effect is 'The children were hungry', as indicated by the signal word 'because'.

What is the cause and effect relationship in the sentence 'Since the class worked so hard, the teacher suggested a game.'?

The cause is 'the class worked so hard' and the effect is 'the teacher suggested a game', as indicated by the signal word 'since'.

What does the word 'if' signal in the sentence 'Max said he’d cancel the race if the track was wet.'?

The word 'if' in this sentence signals a conditional cause and effect relationship, where the cause is 'the track was wet' and the effect is 'Max would cancel the race'.