It's raining outside (cause). I used an umbrella. (effect). Cause and effect, particularly in upper elementary, is a text structure riddled with opportunity for our reading instruction. BUT we must be careful about whittling down cause and effect to only basic, isolated examples that ignore the complicated and nuanced reality of the concept, because if we do, we can quickly cover up a meaningful angle into understanding a text. Take the raining/umbrella example above. This morning, as my oldest daughter was walking out the door to her bus stop, I say, "Hey, it's raining. Why don't you get your umbrella out of your backpack?" She stands on the porch and claims it's not raining that hard. "I'll be fine," she says. I insist. "You have a soccer tournament this weekend. We don't need you getting sick." Daughter, with attitude, proceeds to take out umbrella, grumbling, "Dad, nobody else at the bus stop has an umbrella. I lo......

I am always looking for something to read.  I don't always get to it, but I have a lot to choose from come summer.  This week, I've compiled some of our most favorite and popular posts.  Each post provides a teaching tip, idea, inspiration, or all of the above. 10 Ways to Practice Multiplication Facts   From Teaching With Simplicity Let's be honest, practicing multiplication facts can be a bore and a chore.  You may want to try these:   Pick-a-Card, Number Draw, Multiplication Pyramid.  Sound interesting?   Read more here... Math Perseverance From Teacher Studio How do you get your students to persevere in Math?  Give them problems that are challenging, but provide them with tools to be successful.   Read more here... How to Teach the Standards through Social Studies Inquiry Circles From One Stop Teacher Shop What are inquiry circles?  They are a lot like research projects, but they begin differently.  ......

Teaching cause and effect using informational text in the upper grade classroom can be tough. It takes a bit of logical thinking, a touch of common sense, and making a whole lot of inferences...which can be a tall order for kids this age. We can make it easier though, by giving the kids lots of opportunities to practice in a variety of ways.  Here's my game plan: 1. Review the Concept of Cause and Effect My kids are 4th and 5th graders, so by the time they get to me, they should (hopefully) have somewhat of a handle on cause and effect...at least the idea of it. It's always good though to start with a review, so I like to have an anchor chart handy (always a great visual reference) and have the kids play a matching game.  To do this, I pass out sentence strips with either a cause or an effect on them and have the kids walk around until they find their match. When we're done, we quickly share out our answers. Great way to add some movemen......