Identifying Cause and Effect in Texts

Importance

• Understanding cause and effect helps us comprehend events.
• Key questions to ask:
  • Cause: "Why did this happen?"
  • Effect: "What happened?"

Definitions

• Cause:
  • Occurs first.
  • Explains why something happens.
• Effect:
  • Happens after the cause.
  • Describes what happened.

Examples

1. Rain and Carolina
   • Cause: It rained.
   • Effect: Carolina got wet.
2. Phil's Fatigue
   • Cause: Phil stayed up late.
   • Effect: Phil was tired in the morning.

Everyday Cause and Effect Relationships

• Studying hard leads to better grades.
• Not using sunscreen results in getting sunburnt.
• Playing in the mud leads to getting muddy.

Identifying Cause and Effect in Texts

• Signal Words and Phrases: Indicators of cause and effect relationships.
  • Examples: "so", "due to", "because", "since", "if".

Practice Examples

1. Wendy's Sickness

   • Sentence: "Wendy was feeling sick so she stayed home from school."
   • Signal Word: "so"
   • Cause: Wendy feeling sick.
   • Effect: Wendy stayed home.

2. Swimming Carnival Cancellation

   • Sentence: "The swimming carnival was cancelled due to bad weather."
   • Signal Phrase: "due to"
   • Cause: Bad weather.
   • Effect: Carnival cancellation.

3. Children’s Hunger

   • Sentence: "The children were hungry because they hadn’t eaten all day."
   • Signal Word: "because"
   • Cause: Not eating all day.
   • Effect: Children were hungry.

4. Teacher's Suggestion

   • Sentence: "Since the class worked so hard, the teacher suggested a game."
   • Signal Word: "since"
   • Cause: Class worked hard.
   • Effect: Teacher suggested a game.

5. Race Cancellation

   • Sentence: "Max said he’d cancel the race if the track was wet."
   • Signal Word: "if"
   • Cause: Track being wet.
   • Effect: Race cancellation.