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English lesson plan · 3rd grade (Year 4 in England) · 45 minutes

Cause and effect in texts: since, as a result, therefore

Reading Comprehension

CCSS RI.3.3CCSS RI.3.8England: Y3/4 Reading (explaining)England: KS2 SATs Reading

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Cause and effect in texts: since, as a result, therefore.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Cause and effect: why did it happen?

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: A short text or extract (one copy each), Highlighters, Question cards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 5 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Cause and effect: why did it happen?). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. The wind blew so hard that our tent fell down in the night. What happened because the wind blew hard? (We built a fire. / We went to sleep. / It started to snow. / The tent fell down.) → The tent fell down.Prompt: A cause is WHY something happens. An effect is WHAT happens.
  2. Choose the word that links the cause and the effect. The plant grew tall ___ it had lots of light. (but / so / because / or) → becausePrompt: A cause is WHY something happens. An effect is WHAT happens.
  3. Jada forgot to water her sunflower for two weeks, so its leaves went brown and droopy. Why did the leaves go brown? (Jada forgot to water it. / A rabbit ate it. / It was too sunny. / It got too much water.) → Jada forgot to water it.Prompt: A cause is WHY something happens. An effect is WHAT happens.

Hook · 5 min

  • Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
  • Share the objective: Cause and effect in texts: since, as a result, therefore. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 10 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Because the farmer left the gate open, the goats wandered into the vegetable patch. What caused the goats to get into the vegetable patch?
  • Step 1: Find the event, then look for what made it happen (cause) or what it led to (effect).
  • Step 2: So the answer is: The gate was left open.
  • Answer: The gate was left open.
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 10 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Our class switched off the lights at lunchtime every day. Therefore, the school used less electricity. What was the effect of switching off the lights? (The school used less electricity. / The lights broke. / Lunch was longer. / The classroom got warmer.) → The school used less electricity.Prompt: A cause is WHY something happens; an effect is WHAT happens because of it.
  2. Bees carry pollen from flower to flower. As a result, the flowers can make seeds. What is the effect of bees carrying pollen? (The flowers can make seeds. / Bees make wax. / Bees fly to flowers. / Flowers lose their petals.) → The flowers can make seeds.Prompt: A cause is WHY something happens; an effect is WHAT happens because of it.

You do: independent practice · 10 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 5 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Arctic sea ice is melting earlier each spring, so polar bears have less time to hunt seals from the ice. Why do polar bears have less time to hunt? (The sea ice is melting earlier. / Seals have moved to the desert. / Polar bears sleep all spring. / There are too many polar bears.) → The sea ice is melting earlier.Prompt: A cause is WHY something happens; an effect is WHAT happens because of it.
  2. Which signal word or phrase comes just before a CAUSE (a reason)? (so / since / as a result / consequently) → sincePrompt: Try it in a sentence: 'It rained, ___ we stayed in.' / 'We stayed in ___ it rained.'

Watch out for

  • Answering from memory or opinion instead of evidence in the text.
  • Copying a long quote without explaining what it shows.

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Cause and effect: why did it happen?.
  • Use concrete materials: a short text or extract (one copy each).
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-3.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Cause and effect in texts: since, as a result, therefore

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Where Does a Can Go?

You finish a fizzy drink and drop the empty can into the recycling bin. That is not the end of the can's story. It is the start of a new one. First, a truck collects the recycling and takes it to a sorting centre. There, machines separate the materials. A giant magnet pulls out steel cans. Aluminium cans (aluminum in the US) are not magnetic, so a different machine pushes them aside. Next, the aluminium cans are squashed into huge blocks and taken to a factory. The cans are shredded into small pieces, cleaned, and melted in a furnace. The hot liquid metal is poured into moulds and cooled into long bars. Then the bars are rolled out into thin sheets, like dough under a rolling pin. The sheets are cut and shaped into brand-new cans, filled with drinks, and sent to the shops. A recycled can can be back on a shelf in about sixty days. Recycling aluminium is a big help to our planet. Making a can from old cans uses about 95 percent less energy than making one from new metal dug out of the ground. Aluminium can be recycled again and again without getting worse, so the can in your hand might once have been part of hundreds of other cans.

  1. Question 1

    Read "Where Does a Can Go?". Why does recycling aluminium help the planet?

    • A. It uses much less energy than making new metal.
    • B. It makes drinks taste better.
    • C. It needs more trucks.
    • D. It makes cans heavier.

  2. Question 2

    Read "Where Does a Can Go?". Why is a different machine needed for aluminium cans?

    • A. Aluminium cans are too small.
    • B. Aluminium is too heavy.
    • C. Aluminium is not magnetic.
    • D. Aluminium melts in the sun.

  1. Question 3

    Which signal word or phrase comes just before a CAUSE (a reason)?

    • A. consequently
    • B. so
    • C. since
    • D. as a result

The Camera in the Hedge

For my birthday, Aunt Jo gave me a wildlife camera. It is small and green, and it takes a photo whenever something moves in front of it. I strapped it to the fence post at the bottom of our garden, pointing at a gap in the hedge. The first morning, I ran outside in my pyjamas to check it. There were forty-two photos! Most of them were of leaves blowing in the wind. One was of our cat, Biscuit, looking very surprised. But on the second night, something different appeared. At 11:14 p.m., a hedgehog shuffled out of the hedge. At 11:16 p.m., it was sniffing at the flower bed. At 11:20 p.m., it was gone. I wanted to know where it went, so I read about hedgehogs in a library book. I learned that a hedgehog can walk more than a kilometre in one night, looking for beetles and worms. Walls and fences with no gaps can stop it from finding enough food. Dad and I cut a small hole, about the size of a CD case, at the bottom of our fence. Our neighbour, Mr Okafor, made one in his fence too. Now the hedgehog can travel from garden to garden. Last night, the camera caught the hedgehog again. This time, it was squeezing through our new hole, heading for Mr Okafor's garden. I think it was saying thank you.

  1. Question 4

    Read "The Camera in the Hedge". Why can walls and fences be a problem for hedgehogs?

    • A. They are too cold to sleep next to.
    • B. Hedgehogs are scared of the colour green.
    • C. They can stop hedgehogs finding enough food.
    • D. Cats hide behind them.

  1. Question 5

    Due to a power cut, the school's computers stopped working. What was the effect of the power cut?

    • A. The lights got brighter.
    • B. The school closed for a year.
    • C. The computers stopped working.
    • D. The pupils went swimming.

The Camera in the Hedge

For my birthday, Aunt Jo gave me a wildlife camera. It is small and green, and it takes a photo whenever something moves in front of it. I strapped it to the fence post at the bottom of our garden, pointing at a gap in the hedge. The first morning, I ran outside in my pyjamas to check it. There were forty-two photos! Most of them were of leaves blowing in the wind. One was of our cat, Biscuit, looking very surprised. But on the second night, something different appeared. At 11:14 p.m., a hedgehog shuffled out of the hedge. At 11:16 p.m., it was sniffing at the flower bed. At 11:20 p.m., it was gone. I wanted to know where it went, so I read about hedgehogs in a library book. I learned that a hedgehog can walk more than a kilometre in one night, looking for beetles and worms. Walls and fences with no gaps can stop it from finding enough food. Dad and I cut a small hole, about the size of a CD case, at the bottom of our fence. Our neighbour, Mr Okafor, made one in his fence too. Now the hedgehog can travel from garden to garden. Last night, the camera caught the hedgehog again. This time, it was squeezing through our new hole, heading for Mr Okafor's garden. I think it was saying thank you.

  1. Question 6

    Read "The Camera in the Hedge". What was the effect of cutting the hole in the fence?

    • A. The camera stopped working.
    • B. Mr Okafor was cross.
    • C. Biscuit the cat ran away.
    • D. The hedgehog could travel from garden to garden.

  1. Question 7

    Since the river had flooded, the bridge was closed for a week. Why was the bridge closed?

    • A. It was being painted.
    • B. A boat was stuck.
    • C. It was a holiday.
    • D. The river had flooded.

  2. Question 8

    The library started a comic club on Fridays. As a result, twice as many children borrowed books. What was the effect of the comic club?

    • A. Fewer children visited.
    • B. Twice as many children borrowed books.
    • C. Comics became more expensive.
    • D. The library closed on Fridays.

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Answer key: Cause and effect in texts: since, as a result, therefore

  1. 1. A. It uses much less energy than making new metal.

  2. 2. C. Aluminium is not magnetic.

  3. 3. C. since

  4. 4. C. They can stop hedgehogs finding enough food.

  5. 5. C. The computers stopped working.

  6. 6. D. The hedgehog could travel from garden to garden.

  7. 7. D. The river had flooded.

  8. 8. B. Twice as many children borrowed books.