Monthly Comprehension Strategy: Cause & Effect
“Ruby in Her Own Time”
Week of Dec. 6 – 10, 2010
Lesson Essential Question:How does the cause of something happening help you understand the results of the effect?
Activating Strategy:
Read the story If You Give…. Model cause and effect with this story.
To find the effect, ask yourself, “What Happened”?
To find the cause, ask yourself, “Why”?
Preview Vocabulary:
Cause - is why something happens or what makes something happen.
Effect – is what happens as a result of a cause
Graphic Organizer: Cause and Effect
Teaching Strategies:
Model causes on a t–chart, have the students to tell what the effects will be.
Cause: Effect:
Kate got wet she fell into the lake
My teacher smiled the class all made 100
I ran to the porch it started to rain
Pre-Reading:
Introduce the selection: “Ruby in Her Own Time”
Give the students a preview of the selection:
Have students read the title of the story. Read aloud the names of the author and illustrator. Identify Ruby as the duckling in the picture. Have students predict some things Ruby might need to learn as she grows up.
Introduce the vocabulary:
Mother – a woman who has a child or children
Precious – having great value
Father – a man who has a child or children
Flew – took off and moved in the air
Feather – one of the light, soft things that cover a bird’s body
Beautiful – very pretty to see or hear
During Reading: Read the passage – shared (think aloud) paired or independently Keep in mind the story graphic organizer when reading the story. After reading a couple of pages, stop and check for understanding. Ask, What has happened in the story so far? What clues in the picture help me understand the story? Ask children to say a new sentence that means about the same thing as selected sentences that you read.
After Reading:
- What is cause and effect?
- What happened to Ruby in the beginning, middle, and end of the story?
- What do you think “in her own time” means?
- Discuss how she does things in her own time.
- Look back at page 47. Why did Mother Duck name her baby duck Ruby?
Distributed Guided Practice:
Knowledge Strand:
Name in order the places where the ducks flew.
Connection Strand:
What is something you learned to do in your own time, like Ruby?
Word Meaning Strand:
On page 55 what is meant by the word among?
Summarizing Strategy:
Partners will discuss:
- Who is this story about?
- Where does this story take place?
- What are the most important things that happen?
Read the story Leo the Late Bloomer. Students will write a comparison story between Leo and Ruby.
Assignment or Assessment: ____x___whole group ____x_____small group
Graphic Organizer
Story Test
Word Selection Test
Resources:
The selection “Ruby in Her Own Time”