Trace the Outcome

This analytical reading and writing worksheet helps students in Grades 3-5 strengthen their understanding of cause-and-effect relationships by focusing on how a single event can lead to multiple outcomes. Students read short passages, identify and underline the effects that result from one stated cause, and then apply their learning by writing an original passage with one cause and at least two logical effects.

Skills Reinforced

• Multiple Effects Identification (Grades 3-5) – Recognize how one cause can produce several related effects within a text.
• Reading for Detail & Inference – Analyze passages carefully to locate explicit and implied effects.
• Structured Writing & Organization – Write a clear paragraph that logically presents one cause followed by multiple effects.
• Logical Relationship Recognition – Understand how ideas connect through cause-and-effect structure.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with elementary ELA comprehension and writing standards.
• Visual Annotation Practice – Highlighting and underlining support close reading and comprehension.
• Writing Application Included – Reinforces learning by having students create their own cause-and-effect example.
• Flexible Use – Ideal for independent practice, small groups, literacy centers, or assessment.

This printable worksheet helps students deepen comprehension and improve writing clarity by tracing outcomes back to a single cause. By identifying multiple effects and organizing them logically in their own writing, learners build critical thinking, inference, and composition skills. Suitable for classroom instruction or homeschool use, this no-prep activity provides meaningful practice in understanding and expressing complex cause-and-effect relationships.

This worksheet is part of our Cause and Effect collection.