Cause and effect. If you have little ones in your house you have a whole lot of this going on all day long. My house is a bit of a mess right now and I can tell you who caused it.
Image courtesy of Fabian Reusat at flickr.com (scaled and text added)
Cause is the thing that makes something happen. Effect is the thing that happens. You would think this would be easy to teach since it is so much of our day-to-day life. The good news is most kids will pick it up without any trouble at all with a few concrete examples and some fun games.
Cause and Effect Illustration is a great way to teach cause and effect. Give the students a list of effects. Examples: She didn’t go to school. The girl was crying. He got a tummy ache. Have the student draw possible causes that go with the effects. This is a great way to get them thinking. You can also allow the students to compare their drawing and discuss the different causes that were presented. I have attached a worksheet to get you started.
CauseAndEffectDrawingWorksheet.pdf
Do your kids love games? I know mine do. A Cause and Effect Game is a great way to reinforce the concept of one thing making another thing happen. You can print out some picture cards with causes and effects, such as sun+rain and a rainbow. Then allow the students to play a little game of cause and effect match. This is a great thing to keep on hand for early finishers or for centers.
Technology is always a great way to grab the attention of your students. I found this great little song on YouTube that is brief and right to the point. It is a great way to introduce this concept.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWK0PF_-fc8
Brain POP jr has a really fun puzzle game that teaches cause and effect. This one allows the kids to put a puzzle together that will show the cause of an effect already stated. This game is so much fun the kids won’t even realize they are learning.
https://jr.brainpop.com/readingandwriting/comprehension/causeandeffect/puzzle/
Weather is a great way to teach cause and effect. You could combine cause and effect with an upcoming weather unit or just use it to review weather. Give the students a list of weather scenarios and have them match them up with the correct effect. I have attached a fun worksheet to use for this idea!
CauseAndEffectMatchingWorksheet.pdf
What have you been doing to keep the attention of your students? Please share your teaching ideas in the comments!
Image courtesy of Darin Kim at flickr.com (scaled and text added)
CauseAndEffectDrawingWorksheet
CauseAndEffectMatchingWorksheet
These are definitely great tips!! Great way to illustrate cause and effect.
Excellent tips! I homeschool my younger daughter and as her teacher I can totally put these to action.
They definitely need to put things into action for it to sink in. These are great ideas!
What fun ways to teach cause and effect. My niece could use this for her pupils.
I agree, engagement and interaction makes it easier for them to learn.