Unit Plan 28 (Grade 5 ELA): Cause & Effect and Explaining Connections
Grade 5 informational reading and listening unit: analyze cause-and-effect relationships, evaluate how authors use reasons and evidence to support points, and summarize speakers’ claims with linked supporting proof.
Focus: Event/idea relationships; reasons/evidence; listening critique
Grade Level: 5
Subject Area: English Language Arts (Reading Informational; Speaking & Listening)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
This week, readers become connection detectives. Students will trace cause-and-effect chains in informational texts (how events and ideas relate), evaluate reasons and evidence an author uses to support claims, and practice listening critique—summarizing a speaker’s points and judging how each is supported. By Friday, each student can map what caused what, explain how the author argues a point with reasons/evidence, and produce a clear, concise listening summary that links claims to proof.
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…
- Describe relationships among individuals, events, and ideas (sequence, cause/effect, problem/solution) using text evidence (RI.5.3).
- Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points; identify which reasons/evidence support which point (RI.5.8).
- Summarize a speaker’s points and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence (SL.5.3).
Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 5
- RI.5.3, RI.5.8, SL.5.3
Success Criteria — student language
- I can trace a cause → effect pathway and cite where I found it.
- I can match an author’s point with the reason and evidence that support it.
- When listening, I can summarize the speaker’s points and name the evidence for each.