ReadWorks.org

will review signal words that can help readers identify cause-and-effect relationships (if, then, because, since, so). I will post a chart of cause-and-effect relationships and identify the new signal words in each example. (Direct Teaching Example Chart is provided below in Teacher and Student Materials.) I will explain that signal words are often used to make the relationship between cause-and-effect more explicit. I will begin reading the passage, “Dear Mr. President” and will highlight the first two cause-and-effect examples. (Passage is provided in Books and Passages.) I will model rewriting these examples using signal words. (See Direct Teaching and Guided Practice Teacher Example Chart provided below.)

TIP: In addition to identifying the cause-and-effect signal words, discuss the cause-and-effect relationship that these words signal.

Ask: How did I decide where to add signal words? Why? Students should be able to respond that you looked for cause-and-effect relationships in the text by looking for events that seemed related and read the text to determine whether one event caused the other. Then, you added signal phrases to make those relationships more clear.

will continue to read and identify the cause-and-effect relationships in “Dear Mr. President” and rewrite the relationships using signal words. (See Direct Teaching and Guided Practice Teacher Example Chart provided below.)

will read the passage, “Frogs at Risk,” identify cause-and-effects relationships in the passage, and rewrite them using signal words. (Student Independent Practice is provided below.)