UNLV/Department of Teaching & Learning

Elementary Lesson Plan

UNLV Student: Tasiana Blas PSMT Name: Yasmine Gallardo

Lesson Plan Title: Cause & Effect Lesson Plan Topic: Cause & Effect
relationships

Date: 10/30/18 Estimated Time: 70 minutes

Grade Level: 3rd grade School Site: Steele Elementary

1.State Standard(s):
 RI. 3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or
concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to
cause/effect.
 W.3.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the
credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding
plagiarism.

2. Teaching Model: Direct instruction

3. Objective:
 Students will analyze the relationship between cause and effects by comparing and
contrasting each cause and effect passage given to them.
 Students will create an effect scenario from a given cause prompt during writing
workshop.

4. Materials and Technology Resources

 Book: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
 Game sheet based on book
 Dice
 Cause and effect anchor chart
 Alexander cause and effect chart
 Post-it notes
 Cause and effect sentence cards
 Writing worksheet
 Cause and effect passages
  Writing Anchor chart

5. Instructional Procedures: All materials should be ready for students before they come into
the classroom so the lesson can run smoothly in a timely manner.

a. Motivation/Engagement: (20 minutes)

Read Aloud
 Begin by reading the book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very
Bad Day.
 As the book is being read, pause and ask questions.

Questions:
1. Why was he having a bad day? (BT:L1)
2. If he didn’t do that, would his day be going better? (BT:L1)

 After the reading ask these questions:

Questions:
1. What were some things that happened to Alexander in the story? (BT:L1)
2. Why was he in such a bad mood? (BT:L1)
3. What could have Alexander have done differently? (BT:L4)
4. What is the theme of this story? (BT:L4)

Comprehension Game

 Explain to students that they will play a fun game based on the story with their
partners. They will only have 2-5 minutes to complete this game. Playing this
game will ensure comprehension of the theme of the story that was read. This will
prepare them for the questions that will be asked on cause and effects
relationships in the story
b. Developmental Activities or Learning Experiences: (40 MINUTES)

 Explain to students that we will be learning about cause and effect. Introduce
what the meaning of cause and effect is with the anchor chart. Cause is the reason
something happens and effect is the result.
 Explain to students that we will now be going over some of the cause and effect
relationships that happened in the story with the chart that is posted on the board.
Model two examples of a cause and effect relationship from the story with
students.

Questions:
1. What are some causes from the story? (BT:L1)
2. What are some effects from the causes? (BT:L1)

 Pass out post-it notes to each student, they will need to write other cause and
effect relationships and come post them on the chart on the board.
 After students are done posting their post-it’s on the board, tell students that we
will now read through them together.

Question:
1. Can someone tell me what is the relationship between one cause and one
effect on our chart? (BT:L4)
Cause and effect Matching Game – Ahead of time, write causes on cards with matching
effects on the other cards. Ensure that there are enough cards made for every student to
participate.

 Explain the game to students. Tell them that now that we have had more practice
with cause and effect relationships, we will now be playing a game. The goal of
this game is to find the matching reason (cause) to the result (effect), they will
need to get up and walk around the room to find their missing part. Tell them not
to begin until they hear the word “GO.”
 Pass out at random a cause and effect sentence strip to each student.
 Give students time to find their matching cause or effect.
  When every student has found their missing part, have them sit with their partners
and call on volunteers to present to the class.
 During this time, ask them questions to check understanding.

Questions to ask students who are presenting to the class:

1. How is this effect related to this cause? (BT:L4)
2. How did you know that this cause belonged to this effect?
(BT:L4)

Writing Workshop- Using the worksheets that will be passed out, students will be writing
a story with a given effect. Writing prompt: In the story that you will be writing, the main
character falls down. Describe what could have caused it.

 Explain to students that they will now need to create their own story about what
could have happened to cause someone to fall down.
 Pass out worksheets. Go over the directions with students to ensure every students
understands what they will be doing next.
 Tell students that they can refer back to the anchor chart about writing that has
been posted on the wall.
 Give students time to complete their writing.

After students have completed their writing, have a discussion on cause and effect relationships.

Questions to ask:
1. Can someone tell us what is a cause? (BT:L1)
2. Can someone tell us what is an effect? (BT:L1)
3. Will one happen without the other?
4. Can someone briefly compare the relationship between cause and effect?
(BT:L2)
5. What elements would you choose to change from the book? (BT:L3)
6. Can someone tell us about their story? (BT:L1)

c. Closure: (10 minutes) Exit Ticket- Students will be given a short cause and effect passage to
complete. They will need to read the passage and determine the cause and effect.

d. Extension:
 If by chance there are students who are done with their writing, students can continue
reading their books and take an AR quiz.

6.Accommodations, Modifications and Differentiations for Diverse Learners:

  This activity might be long for some students and there are some who have a hard time
focusing for long periods of time, students will be given a brain break during their
observation worksheet time.
 If students are having a hard time understanding cause and effect relationships, during
writing workshop time, teacher can meet with that student or pull a small group to
provide more assistance and

7. Assessment and Evaluation of Learning:

Formative Assessment:
 Questions asked during the discussion and observing the students while they complete
their cause and effect sentence strip game will act as formative assessments.

b. Summative Assessment:
 The writing workshop results will act as a summative assessment.

8. Homework Assignment: No homework assignment will be given for this lesson.

9. Reflection:

Strengths: One strength this lesson had was that students were engaged throughout the story.
Students were able to make the connections with the main character and relate to the events that
were happening to him.

Concerns: A concern I had was that some students were getting confused with the relationship
between cause and effect. For some reason, students thought the effect was the cause and the
cause was the effect. When I noticed the confusion, I was able to give more examples that made
sense to students and this help the comprehend the concepts.

Insights: It is important for students to understand cause and effect in stories because it ties into
the concepts of problem and solutions of stories. Good readers ask questions and these questions
should be why things happen and the results of these things. Introducing these concepts to
students make learning and reading more meaningful making it easier to comprehend is read.

10. Lemov Techniques:

Technique Effectiveness Rating Date implemented/

+ = effective Reflection/ Comments
- = challenging
Technique #4
Tracking Not Watching
Instead of watching students
while learning, track or look
for specific learning.
Technique #43
Turn and talk
+ 09/06/18
With this technique, I was
able to track the students
learning and better
formatively assess them
throughout my lesson.

Allow students to actively

engage in meaningful pair
discussions.