The idea behind cause and effect can be summed up by the statement “One thing leads to another.” Understanding cause and effect, and the relationship between them, can make your child or teen a better reader. Try these suggestions.
Understand Cause/Effect
Cause and effect work together; you can’t have one without the other. That’s why it’s very important to be able to distinguish between the two.
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Cause: an action or an event that makes something happen or produces an effect.
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Effect: a change produced by an action or event.
It is important to keep track of cause and effect when reading novels, short stories and literature. For example, when reading The Hobbit, you should think about why Bilbo’s courage increased over the course of his great adventure.
Also, textbooks often attempt to explain either the cause or effect of some action. For example, history textbooks explain the causes of important events like the American Revolution. Similarly, science texts explain how one (or more) actions can effect people, animals, places, and the environment.
Ask Yourself Some Questions
When thinking about cause and effect, ask yourself some questions.
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Finding the cause generally answers the question why something happened: At a young age, your teacher may have asked you, “Why did Goldilocks go into the three bears’ home?”
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Determining the effect generally requires you to answer the question what happened after an event took place (“What happened because Goldilocks went into the three bears’ home?”).
Look for Events, Actions, and Results
If you are having trouble connecting causes and effects, look for significant events or actions (causes) and then figure out what happened as a result (effect).
For example, in the sentence, “Since Coach Kerr began leading the baseball team, they have won more games.”
The cause is: Coach Kerr began leading the baseball team.
The effect is: The team has won more games.
Watch for Signal Words
When reading, paying attention to cause and effect requires a lot of attention, diligence and mental effort. For those of us who struggle with our attention, it may be helpful to pay attention to words that signal a cause/effect connection:
Accordingly As a result of Because Begins with Consequently Due to Effects of Finally |
For this reason Hence How If…then In order to Is caused by It follows Leads/led to |
Next Resulting from Since So that Therefore Thus When…then Whether |
For Causes, Look for “Because” Phrases
Phrases that start with because, since, due to, and other similar words can give you a clue about causes when you are asked “Why?” questions.
Because he continued to disrupt the class, Jimmy was sent to the principal’s office.
For Effects, Look for “Therefore” Phrases
To recognize effects, look for phrases that start with therefore, consequently, or resulted in,
Jimmy’s constant talking back to his teacher resulted in him being sent to the principal’s office.