Most short stories contain some form of cause and effect. One thing happens, and it causes something else to happen in response. It can be something as simple as “the old woman offered the girl a perfect, red, shiny apple, so she ate it.” It could also be something more complicated, like “the girl had endured so much pain at the hands of her evil step-mother that she had a hard time trusting adults, even when she was one.”
"The Luckiest Time of All" contains a number of things one could argue changed Elzie’s life. She decided to go to the Silas Green Show. She stopped to watch the dancing dog. She hurled her lucky pebble at the dancing dog. All of these choices had consequences. Students should find an event in the story that caused something else to happen. Using a T-Chart, they should label the left side “Cause” and the right side “Effect”. Illustrating both the cause and its effect, students should use the description bars to detail how the first event put the second in motion.
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a storyboard that shows cause and effect relationships in "Luckiest Time of All". Each cause and effect pair will be shown in the same row.
Gather students and lead a group conversation focused on identifying cause and effect relationships in familiar stories. This helps students practice critical thinking and strengthens their ability to spot how one event leads to another.
Read a passage from the story and verbalize your thought process as you find a cause and its effect. Demonstrating this skill helps students understand how to break down text and find connections independently.
Encourage students to list possible events from the story that might have caused something to happen. This prewriting step ensures students have strong examples for their T-Charts and deepens comprehension.
Remind students to find and cite specific phrases or sentences from "Luckiest Time of All" to support each event. Using textual evidence builds analytical skills and supports their reasoning.
Invite students to share their T-Charts in small groups or pairs. Discussing different cause and effect examples helps students see multiple perspectives and learn from one another.
A cause and effect relationship in 'Luckiest Time of All' is when one event (the cause) leads directly to another event (the effect). For example, Elzie decided to go to the Silas Green Show (cause), which resulted in her encountering the dancing dog (effect).
To teach cause and effect with 'Luckiest Time of All', have students find key events in the story and use a T-Chart to pair each cause with its effect. Encourage illustrations and descriptions to deepen understanding.
Examples include: Elzie stopped to watch the dancing dog (cause), which led her to throw a lucky pebble (effect); or throwing the pebble (cause), which changed the course of her day (effect).
Identifying cause and effect helps students understand how actions and events are connected, improving reading comprehension and critical thinking about plot development.
The best way is to label the left side 'Cause' and the right side 'Effect.' Students should illustrate each pair and write a brief description under each, explaining how the events are linked.