Read a story and have fifth-graders come to the board and match a list of causes and effects. Identify words such as “because,” “so,” “therefore” and “as a result” that indicate a causal relationship between an initial action and the effect. Pass out a handout with another cause and effect story and have the students mark the cause as "1" and the effect as "2." Have them circle connecting words. At the end of the worksheet include a few sentences that begin a story and have each student write his own cause and effect story.
Pass out copies of newspapers or news magazines to small groups of fifth-graders. Direct the students to locate an article that appears interesting and read it. Each group marks the copy for elements of cause and effect, such as an oceanic earthquake that caused a tidal wave that crashed onto shore, resulting in death and property loss. Students can use a content or essay map, which is a form that allows them to list and organize story events and consequences, to graph out the main ideas with supporting details before constructing their group report.
Hold a class discussion that illustrates that initial causes may have multiple effects that lead to other effects. Use the analogy of a snowball rolling downhill or rows of falling dominos. Create a worksheet students use to list the snowball effects of a story, shaped like a spiral. Label the first event as “A,” the resulting action as “B” and the new situation as “C.” Use the "C" as a new "A" to keep the cause and effect going. For example, in your beginning “A,” Amy’s homework blows away as she gets on the bus for school. Her choices of action, “B,” include trying to redo the assignment on the bus, explaining to the teacher that her homework blew away, quickly copying a friend’s homework before she turns it in or cutting class. Students consider the outcome for each action and determine their choice of action. The next level on the spiral repeats the process beginning with the new “A.”
Pass out a worksheet with boxes in two columns labeled cause and effect and a prepared list of causes and effects. For each element supplied, the fifth-grader places it either in a cause or effect box and supplies a logical missing element. For example, “Jimmy rolled down the hill … ” supplies the effect and the student supplies a cause such as "and landed in the mud." “A mouse ran across the floor and…” requires the student to supply an effect such as "it scared my mother."