Lessons & Units :: Cause and Effect 1st Grade Unit

Lesson 2: Causes

Lesson Plan

If You Give a Moose a Muffin | 590L

If You Give a Moose a Muffin
Learning Goal
Identify causes when given an effect in fiction.
Approximately 50 minutes
Necessary Materials
Provided: Example Chart , Independent Practice Worksheet
Not Provided: If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff, chart paper, markers
  • Teacher Modeling

    will restate the definitions of cause (why something happens) and effect (something that happens because of something else), providing many specific examples of each. I will model identifying and discussing why things happen (causes) in If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff. I will discuss and chart what happens and why it happens in the book, stopping after page 8. (Example Chart is provided.) For example, say: "I know that the moose wanted some jam. Why did he want jam? I think he wanted milk because he was given a muffin. Giving the moose a muffin was the cause and the moose wanting jam was the effect."

  • Think Check

    Ask: "How did I find the causes in the story?" Students should respond that each time something happened in the story you thought about why it happened or what else in the story caused it to happen.

  • Guided Practice

    will work together to identify, chart, and discuss what happens and the causes of these events in the middle of If You Give a Moose a Muffin, from pages 9-18. We will then listen as I read and identify events in the rest of If You Give a Moose a Muffin. (Example Chart is provided.)

  • Independent Practice

    will identify the causes for the events that were identified by the teacher in the Guided Practice. (Independent Practice Worksheet is provided.)

    TIP: Students will need access to the read aloud book to complete the Independent Practice. Students may work in small groups, sharing a version of the book to complete the Independent Practice. Differentiate the Independent Practice by allowing students to write or draw the effects to show mastery of the learning outcome.

Build Student Vocabulary remind

Tier 2 Word: remind
Contextualize the word as it is used in the story When the moose is sewing on a button, it reminds him of the puppets his grandmother made.
Explain the meaning student-friendly definition) Remind means that something makes you remember or think of something else. When the moose is sewing, the buttons made him remember or think of the puppets his grandmother made.
Students repeat the word Say the word remind with me: remind.
Teacher gives examples of the word in other contexts A grocery lists helps to remind me of the things I need to buy. I like seeing tulips at the flower stand, because it reminds me of spring, even when it is not spring outside. Remind me to do my homework because sometimes I forget.
Students provide examples Ask the student next to you to remind you to do something. Start by saying “Remind me to _____________.”
Students repeat the word again. What word are we talking about? Remind.
Additional Vocabulary Words loose, scenery

Build Student Background Knowledge

Before reading the book, explain to students that you are going to read a story about a moose. Show students a picture of a moose. Explain that they eat leaves and bark off trees and shrubs. They also do not have a set of upper teeth, so they eat by stripping leaves off of the plant, like a Band-aid.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment


User Comments

Awesome website. I'm sharing it with all my friends.


Thank you so much for all the resources, lessons and ideas. This is the best website I have ever come across.

Thanks for this lesson! I am using it with 3-4 students with significant cognitive disabilities. I taught the first lesson with accommodations and I was surprised by how well most of the students responded and were engaged.

Best website ever!!

It is so helpful and well organized. Thank you!

Beautiful website - since I do a lot of differentiation, I go to different grades and pick and choose what best fits my class needs. Thanks.