Links in a Chain: Creating a Cause and Effect Gallery

When students enter the room, I have displayed on the Smart board the images used in the Gallery Walk lesson.  I tell the students that today they are going to make their own projects for the gallery.  

I use the images to demonstrate how, in texts, events are chained together.  Everything has a cause and an effect and, in fact, an effect in one instance could become a cause in the next instant.  I explain to them that they won't find isolated causes and events and when they do see them they won't be in neat little boxes.

Students will work with a partner to choose at least three of the pictures to create a chain of events.  In order to create the chain, they will need to have copies of the pictures and cut and glue them onto paper or a variety of materials to display their creation.  I offered string and clothespins, crepe paper, large construction paper and sentence strips.  I also had an arrow pattern for the students to cut and include in their project to show the progression between the pictures.  Of course I chose three pictures and modeled how they could all go together as well as how I wanted it presented- in sentence format.

We created our rubric and then I let the students choose their own partners and get started.

After the students finish up their chain of events, it is time to share.  I ask for volunteers to present their chain projects and read their cause and effect sentences.  As a class, we use a "Glow and a Grow" structure to help assess students' performance on their project.

After all students have shared, we hang the projects in the hall so everyone can enjoy a gallery walk.