1. Cause and Effect

2.  Cause: the reason why something happens  Effect: the result of what happened

3. There are words that may signal a cause/effect relationship:  according  if…then  then  lead to  consequently  as a result  in order to  this caused  because  for this reason  due to  resulting  so  since  this is why  therefore

4. Examples  Because it snowed, the kids had a snow day.  The children laughed because the clowns were dancing. (the underlined portion shows the cause)

5. Cause  Joe wasn’t paying attention and drank a big mouthful of sour milk.  The basketball was deflated.  My friend Sara and I went to a picnic today. Effect  We brought a cooler full of food.  The owner looked for the pump.  He made an awful face and he spit it out.

6. Cause  Nobody emptied the sharpener.  The violent storm rained hail down on the house.  Sidney forgot to tune his violin before he played.  Dad forgot to pay attention to the food cooking on the grill. Effect  The steaks and hamburgers were burned.  It sounded awful.  Pencil shavings fell on the floor.  The old shingled roof began to leak where it was damaged.

7. (Underline the cause & circle the effect.)  The plants died because Travis forgot to water them.  Angela didn’t practice her lines, so she forgot her words during the play.  Kevin spilled some mile on the kitchen floor, so he stopped to clean it up with a towel.