Unit Plan 28 (Grade K ELA): Cause & Effect and Idea Connections
Kindergarten informational text unit: students identify cause-and-effect relationships in nonfiction, explain what happened and why using because/so sentences, and practice asking follow-up questions to clarify and deepen understanding.
Focus: Event/idea relationships; follow-up questions to clarify
Grade Level: Kindergarten
Subject Area: English Language Arts (Informational Text • Speaking/Listening)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Young scholars learn to spot cause & effect in informational texts—what happened (effect) and why (cause). Through close looking, talk moves, and simple sentence frames, students describe connections between events/ideas and practice asking follow-up questions to clarify understanding.
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…
- Describe connections between two events or ideas in a text using kid-friendly frames (RI.K.3).
- Ask and answer questions about key details while reading or viewing a page (RI.K.1).
- Ask follow-up questions to seek help or clarify something not understood (SL.K.3).
Standards Alignment — CCSS Kindergarten
- RI.K.3 Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
- RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
- SL.K.3 Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.
Success Criteria — student language
- I can tell what happened and why using because/so.
- I can point to the picture/words that show my idea.
- I can ask a follow-up question when I’m not sure.
- I can answer a partner’s question with a clear detail from the page.