Exemplary
Student:

• Uses the relationships between causes and effects to analyze and keep track of the events in a story.
• Identifies the cause-and-effect relationships in a story with or without clue words.
• Determines the cause(s) of an effect without it being explicitly stated within the text.
• Identifies all the effects of a noted cause, as well as all the causes of a noted effect.

Competent
Student:

• Identifies cause-and-effect relationships with or without clue words.
• Sometimes determines the cause(s) of an effect without it being explicitly stated within the text.
• Identifies some, but not all, the effects of a noted cause, as well as some, but not all, the causes of a noted effect.

Developing
Student:

• Knows that a cause is why something happened and an effect is what happened.
• Determines cause-and-effect relationships when the author has included clue words and there is only one cause and one effect.
• With help, can identify a cause-and-effect relationship that is not signaled with a clue word.

Emerging
Student:

• Knows that a cause is why something happened and an effect is what happened
• With help, can pick out clue words that signal a cause-and-effect relationship.
• With help, can identify a cause-and-effect relationship that involves a single cause and a single effect.