Cause and effect is the relationship between two things when one makes the other happen. In our attempt to make sense of the world, natural phenomena, and human behavior, we often turn to cause and effect. Authors, too, rely on this text structure to explain, show order, change character behavior, and create plot. Within the curriculum areas, cause/effect text structure often appears in science and social studies textbooks.

As a teacher, I found that cause and effect was one of the most difficult text structures for my students to master. Yet they could easily identify examples of cause and effect in everyday life. I attempted to bridge this gap between real-life and reading comprehension through explicit instruction in the cause/effect text structure, modeling, graphic organizers, and many examples in both fiction and nonfiction text.

Two teaching strategies are often effective in teaching students to recognize and understand the cause/effect text structure: teaching signal words (because, so, and since) and teaching the three types of cause/effect relationships (stated, unstated, and sequential). Stated cause/effect relationships are clearly stated in the text and often involve signal words. Unstated relationships require that students make an inference (see the article Teacher Resources for Making Inferences, Using Context Clues in Issue Two for more information). In sequential cause/effect relationships, effects may be part of a chain in which one effect goes on to cause a second effect, and so on.

Although identifying cause/effect text structure is only introduced to students in the upper elementary grades and continued into middle school, it is important that primary students develop an understanding of real-world cause-and-effect relationships. Cause/effect can often be observed in the imaginative play of kindergarten students, and picture books and purposeful questioning techniques can further develop this understanding. Students who leave the primary grades with a solid grasp of cause and effect in everyday life will find more success when confronted with the cause/effect text structures used in expository writing and textbooks.

Use the following resources to develop your own understanding of cause-and-effect relationships and how to effectively include these in your literacy instruction. For lesson plans and activities that focus on cause and effect, please see Investigating the Cause and Effect Relationships of Seasonal Change in the Science and Literacy department of this issue.