Transcript Reading Focus Calendar: Author’s Purpose

Reading Focus Calendar Cluster 3
Cause & Effect
Grades 3, 4, & 5
Week 17-18
“A life without cause is a life
without effect.”
-Barbarella
Cause & Effect
Table of Contents
• Understanding the FCAT Benchmark
• Key concepts & how to identify
• What it looks like on the FCAT test
• Resources
Understanding the FCAT Benchmark
Cluster 3
Comparisons and Cause/Effect
Benchmark LA.E.2.2.1
Recognizes cause-and-effect relationships in a
variety of texts including fiction, nonfiction,
informational text, poetry, and drama.
Tip: Recognizing cause-and-effect relationships
helps students see how ideas fit together and
leads to greater comprehension.
• Cause
Key Concepts
– An event or an action that makes something else
happen
• Effect
– A result; it is what happens because of, or as the
result of, another event or action
• Cause-and-effect relationships
– Interdependent – one can not happen without the
other
• Ask questions
– “What happened first?” “Why did this happen?”;
questions like these help you to figure out what
caused an event to take place.
How to identify cause and effect
in a text
• Look for signal words or phrases to help
find causes:
because
cause
if
 before
and signal words or phrases to help find
effects:
So
 this led to
 then
 therefore
 consequently
As a result of
Questions to ask yourself…
•
to find the effect, or result, ask,
“What happened?”
•
to identify the cause, ask, “ Why
did it happen?”
What Does It Look Like on FCAT in
Grade Three?
Type of Text: Literary or informational
Type of Questions: Multiple Choice
Response Attributes:
Distractors may include, but are not limited
to, the following:
incorrect causes or effects
plausible but incorrect responses based on
the text
Multiple Choice Sample
This item is based on Passage A, Grade 3. See Appendix C.
Why do Chilly Bones and Bloocher start jumping,
rolling, and wrestling with each other?
•
•
•
•
A. They want people to notice them.
B. They want to get rid of each other.
*C. They are happy to meet each other.
D. They have known each other before.
Tip: Students must be able to look at text as a
whole to answer these questions.
What Does It Look Like on FCAT in
Grade Four?
Type of Text: Literary or informational
Type of Questions:
Multiple Choice (MC)
Short-response (SR)
Response Attributes:
Multiple Choice
Distractors may include, but are not limited to,
the following:
incorrect causes or effects
plausible but incorrect responses based on the
text
Short Response
An example of a top-score response for the
specific item will be included.
Multiple Choice Sample
These items are based on Passage D, Grade 4.
What happened to make Tommy feel
weightless?
• A. Tommy had trouble breathing.
• B. The spacecraft made a roaring sound.
• *C. The spacecraft went into a steady orbit.
• D. Tommy squirmed against the seat straps.
Tip: Students must be able to look at text as a
whole to answer these questions.
Short Response Question*
READ
THINK
EXPLAIN
• What result of the first Mount Mazama
explosion was most important to the
formation of Crater Lake? Use details and
information from the article to support your
answer.
It is estimated that students will take
five minutes to answer this type of item.
* Tip:
Sample Short Response
Answer
READ
THINK
EXPLAIN
Top-Score Response
• The mountain falling in on itself and
creating a huge hole/caldera/bowl was the
most important result of the explosion. It
was that bowl that later collected the rain
and snow that formed Crater Lake.
A top-score response cites BOTH the most important result of
the Mount Mazama explosion AND a correct explanation of its
importance, using information stated or implied in the text.
What Does It Look Like on FCAT in
Grade Five?
Type of Text: Literary or informational
Type of Questions: Multiple Choice
Response Attributes:
Distractors may include, but are not limited
to, the following:
incorrect causes or effects
plausible but incorrect responses based on the
text
Multiple Choice Sample
This item is based on Passage F, Grade 5.
What is the MAIN purpose of the jobs Kari and Kal do
when they are in the hot-air balloon?
•
•
•
•
*A. to avoid possible dangers
B. to help control the balloon
C. to be ready for a rip landing
D. to help decide where to land
Tip: Students must be able to look at text as a
whole to answer these questions.
What can teachers do?
• Teach signal words that show cause/effect relationships
• Teach how to look for the different kinds of cause/effect
relationships:
– Stated cause/effect relationships: the relationship is
stated clearly
– Unstated cause/effect relationships: students must be
taught how to "read between the lines"
– Reciprocal cause/effect relationships: effects may be
part of a chain. In this kind of structure, one effect goes
on to cause a second effect, which may then cause a
third effect, etc.
• Ask questions
• Encourage students to read
Links to Resources
• Sample Non-fiction Cause & Effect Lesson Plan
– http://www.everestquest.com/read2.htm
• Interactive practice on determining the cause and
effect with short examples.
– http://unx1.shsu.edu/~txcae/Powerpoints/prepostest/
• Some excellent graphic organizers for cause &
effect.
– http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO/cause_ef
fect.htm
• Resource materials for Cause and Effect
– http://www.internet4classrooms.com/TCAP.htm#cause