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Cause and effect organizer (free printable)

Four rows, each with a cause box, an arrow and an effect box. Edit the two labels and print for a story, a science text or a chapter of history.

Printed on the sheet. Leave it empty to write by hand.
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Cause and Effect, page 1Cause and EffectNameDateCause: what happenedEffect: what happened because of itCause: what happenedEffect: what happened because of itCause: what happenedEffect: what happened because of itCause: what happenedEffect: what happened because of itFree at teach.peabody.kids

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About this sheet

Cause and effect is the structure behind most explanations, in stories, in science and in history, and it is also the structure students most often get backward. This organizer puts the cause on the left, an arrow in the middle and the effect on the right, so the direction of reading is the direction of time. Four rows give space for a chain of events or a set of unrelated pairs. The two labels at the top are editable, and you can reword them to the questions of your lesson: What happened, Why it happened. The effect boxes are tinted, to remind students which side is which.

Grades: 2 to 8. Best in: September, October, January, February.

How to use it

  1. Edit the two labels if you want different wording, such as What happened and Why.
  2. Read a text and ask students to find an event, then the reason for it, and write the reason in the cause box and the event in the effect box.
  3. Compare in pairs: does the arrow point the right way? Try reading each row aloud, with the word because in the middle.

Five ideas for class

  1. Practice with a simple everyday chain first: the rain fell, so the ground was wet. Then move to a text with a harder chain.
  2. Use it in science, with causes and effects such as heating and melting, and in history, with the causes of an event.
  3. Show the sentence frame Because… (cause), … (effect) and ask students to turn each row into a sentence.
  4. Build a chain: make the effect of the first row the cause of the second, and ask students to follow it down the page.
  5. Ask students to find a pair in their own life, such as staying up late and being tired, and add it to the sheet.

Related

Questions

How do students tell cause from effect?

Teach the question What happened? for the effect, then Why did it happen? for the cause. Reading the pair aloud with because in the middle checks it.

Can there be more than one cause?

Yes. Students can write two causes in one box, and you can use two rows for the same effect.

Does it work with nonfiction?

Very well. Many nonfiction texts are written in cause and effect, and the keywords as a result and because are signals to look for.

How do I save it as a PDF?

Choose Print, then pick “Save as PDF” as the printer. Only the sheet prints: the page around it is hidden. You can also save a sheet as a PNG image under the preview.

Can I print it in black and white?

Yes. Switch to Black and white beside the sheet: fills turn white and lines turn black, so it saves ink and photocopies cleanly.

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