CauseandEffect:ALifeintheWoods

byLaurenVonArx

Standards
Standards
CACCELA2012.5.RI.3Explaintherelationshipsorinteractionsbetweentwoor
moreindividuals,events,ideas,orconceptsina
historical,scientific,ortechnicaltextbasedonspecific
informationinthetext.

InstructionalTypeandContent
ClassroomBackground
Thestudentsinthis5thgradeclassarebecomingaccustomedtotheclassroom
routines.Asitisearlyintheschoolyear,studentsarestilllearningtheskills
neededtocompleteInteractiveNotebookentries.TheInteractiveNotebooksserve
toengagestudentsinmeaningfulinformation,aswellasgivethemtoolstorelyon
inthefuture.Studentsarenotgroupedbyability,andarecomfortable
helpingeachother.Studentswhoaredisruptivearegivenwarnings,recordedon
acomputersystemtobelaterresolvedwithparents.TwostudentsattendRSP
servicesforthemajorityoftheschoolday,andrequiregreatattentionwhen
returningtotheclassroom.Onestudentinthisclassisblindandrequiresall
materialstobebrailledbeforelessons.HewillbetypingonaBrailleSense
computer,therefore,hisnotebookentriesaremodifiedtofollowalinearstructure.
ThefirstweeksofLanguageArtsinstructionarebasedinFourthgradereview,
thereforetheselessonsserveasanassessmentofwhatstepstotakenextin
teaching.

Goals/AnticipatedOutcomes
Thegoalofthislessonisforstudentstoreviewtheconceptofcauseandeffectas
seeninahistoricalnarrative.Manystudentshavebackgroundindescribingcause
andeffect,orproblemandsolution.Thisteachingeventalsoservestogive
studentsatoolintheirnotebooktorefertothroughouttheyearwhenworkingwith
causeandeffectinotherliteraryworks.

Materials
1.StudentInteractiveNotebooks
2.ThreefoldTemplate/GraphicOrganizer
3.StudentAnthology:Wonders"ALifeintheWoods"
4.Pencils,Scissors,Glue
5.DocumentReader/Projecter

Plan:Hook(Into)
"Yesterdayweread"ALifeintheWoods,"anonfictionnarrativeaboutHenry
DavidThoreau.Whatdoyourememberaboutthisstory?"
"IhavereadWalden,thebookthatThoreauwrotewhilelivinginthewoods.Itwas
averyinterestingstoryandIwouldlovetosharemorewithyouaboutitduring
snackchatsometime."

Plan:Procedures(Through)
1.Explainthatwearegoingtorereadthestoryinordertorefreshourmemories,
andtolookforcauseandeffectrelationshipsinthestory.
2.Completethecause/effectdefinitions,listofsignalwords,etc.intheInteractive
Notebooksostudentsareawareofwhattolistenforwhilereading.
3.Rereadthestoryaloud.
4.Givestudentstimetotalkintheirtablegroupsaboutwhatcauseandeffect
relationshipstheyfoundwhilereading.
5.Completethegraphicorganizerasstudentssharealoud.Glueintothe
InteractiveNotebook.

Plan:Extensions(Beyond)
Iftimeallows,anextensionofthislessoncanbeanintegrationofthestudents
currentnarrativewritingabouttheirpersonallives.Askstudentsto"stopandjot"
aboutaneventontheirtimeline.Chooseaneventandtrytodetermineacausefor
thishappening.Forexample,"In2008IwentonvacationtoMexicowithmy
family."Whydidthishappen?Wereyougoinginordertovisitrelatives?Tolearn
somethingaboutanewplace?Ortocollectitemsfromyourculturetobringhome?
Studentscansharetheirthoughtswiththeclass.

PlanDifferentiation
Studentswhorequiremoretimetocompletethegraphicorganizercancompleteit
duringclassroom"workshop"timethroughouttheweekwithextrasupervision,and
theuseofthemastercopyoftheinteractivenotebookupcloseattheirdesk.
Studentswhohavetroubleseeingtheboard,orwouldliketobeclosertothe
instructionalfocalpointarewelcometositatthecarpetwithaclipboardatany
timeduringthelesson.
Earlyfinishersareinstructedtocompleteotheritemsfromtheirtodolist,asthey
wouldduringworkshoptime.Specifically,YourTurnPracticeBookpagesthat
coincidewiththelessongoal.Theymayalsochoosetocompleteindependent
readingoftheirchoosing,suchasbooksfromtheclassroomlibrary,magazines
(whichareverypopularinthisclassroom),orothermaterials,aslongastheyare
notdisruptingotherstudents.

ELLAdaptations
Allstudentswillhavereadthestorytwicebeforecompletingthislesson.Becoming
familiarwiththevocabularyandtheoverallcontextofthestoryiskeytobeingable
todescribethecauseandeffectrelationshipswithin.
Thislessonincludesgroupdiscussiontoinvolvealllevelsoflearners.Second
languagelearnerscansharetheirideasinalowanxietyenvironment,aswellas
engageinstudentdiscussiontounderstandconceptsatafifthgradelevel.The
strategiesofrereadingandusingthevocabularylistedintheirInteractive
Notebookswillbehighlightedinorderforstudentstobecomeaccustomedtousing
thenewtools.

Theuseofthedocumentprojecterallowsmetoprojectthedefinitionsand
answerstothefoladablechartinorderforstudentstoreferenceastheyworkon
theirnotebookpage.Havingthecorrectdefinitionsandanswerswillallowthemto
referencethemlater,andusethemtoaccuratelyshapetheiranswerstocause
andeffectquestionsinthefuture.

SpecialLearnerAdaptations
IpreviouslyhadtheinformationneededfortheInteractiveNotebookentrybrailled
inorderfortheblindstudenttoaccessitandincorporateitintohiscomputerized
notebook.Hehasaccesstotheliterarytextinbrailleformataswell.Hisaideis
awareofthematerialinadvanceandreadytobeofserviceifneeded.

ArtPotentials
Studentscancreateanartisticrepresentationofthecausesandeffectsfoundinthestory,"ALifein
theWoods,"byfoldingasheetofpaperinhalfandchoosinganeventtodraw.Creatinganartisitc
representationoftheeventmaysolidifytheexampleforstudentswithvisual/spatiallearningstrength.
HistoryIntegration:StudentsmaychoosetodrawaneventfromtheirTimelineProject.Choosingan
eventfromtheirpersonallivesbringsanelementofchoiceandreallifeapplicationtotheabstract
concept.Thisisalsoanexperiencethatwillrequirethestudentstodecideontheirownwhathappened,
andwhatcausedittohappen,withouttheliterary"signalwords"ordiscussiontoaidthem.Forexample,
ifthestudentchosetodrawabouttheevent"movingtoanewhouse,"theymayneedtorealizethat
eventistheeffectofsomeoutsidecause,suchas,"myparentgotanewjob."

TechnologyOpportunities
TheWondersprogramincludesanonlineresourceathttp://connected.mcgraw
hill.com/thatincludesaninteractivegraphicorganizertohousethestudents
findingsaboutcauseandeffect.Asareview,studentscancompletethisorganizer.
Thistoolisalsousefulbecauseitallowsstudentstohighlight/annotatethetext,
whichbecomesvisibletotheteacher.Thisisagreattoolformonitoringstudent
thoughtprocessastheycompletethetask.
Thiswebsitealsoholdspromiseasitallowsstudentstopracticeuseofthesignal
wordsdiscussedinthelesson.Astheycompletethetypingquestions,theycan
refertotheirnotebookforsupport.

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/causeconnect.html

Assessment
ThroughoutstudentgroupdiscussionaboutthecauseandeffectIwillbe
monitoringandguidingstudentthinkingbylisteningandinterjectingingroup
conversations.Aswecompletethecauseandeffectchartintheirnotebook,Iwill
belisteningforsignalwordsandsignsthatstudentsareunderstandingthegreater
concept.Iwillscaffoldthematerialinthechartifstudentsarehavingadifficulttime
byaskingguidingquestions,andremindingthemtolookfor"whathappened"and
"why."
Lookingaheadtoweekfour,wecanfurtherassessstudentunderstandingby
lookingforcauseandeffectrelationshipsinthenextreading,"FantasyBecomes
Fact."

Resources
Resources
Wonders:"ALifeintheWoods"http://connected.mcgrawhill.com/
McGrawHillEducation.California.2015.

CauseandEffectOnlineResource
http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/causeconnect.html

CreatedwithLiveTextlivetext.com