Name Class

Target Lesson: Identifying Cause and Effect with “Jumping Over Boundaries”

PART 1: Writing Warm-Up

Directions: Answer the writing warm-up questions.

Have you ever really wanted to do something

but you weren’t allowed to? How did it make
you feel? Explain what happened.

Take three minutes to write down your ideas.

"Busted" by Photography by Servando Miramontes; licensed under the CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

Identifying Cause and Effect: Jumping Over Boundaries 1

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Name Class

Target Lesson: Identifying Cause and Effect with “Jumping Over Boundaries”

PART 2: Intro Video

Directions: Watch the video to learn how to identify cause and effect.

Optional Note-taking Space

Identifying Cause and Effect: Jumping Over Boundaries 2

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PART 3: Today’s Target - Identifying Cause and Effect

Identifying Cause and Effect: Jumping Over Boundaries 3

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PART 4: Reading and Questions
Directions: Read the text and answer the questions.

Jumping Over Boundaries

by Linda Alvarado

[1] When I was in elementary school, we had an annual1 sports day. Paragraphs 1 - 3
1. What causes Linda’s coach to tell
Girls did things like hopscotch, jump rope, tetherball, and dodgeball.
her she could not do high jumping?
The boys got to do high jumping.2
A. The coach thinks girls will be
better than boys at high
[2] That’s what I wanted to do — high jumping. I went to sign up.
jumping.

[3] “Girls don’t do high jumping,” the coach said. “Girls have all these B. The coach thinks Linda is too
young to do high jumping.
other things they can do.” He excitedly described how much fun it
C. The coach thinks girls have
would be.
other sports they should do.

[4] I’d been high jumping in the backyard with my five brothers for D. The coach thinks Linda is too
short to do high jumping.
years. I went home and told my mother what the coach had said. My
mother, a small, thin Hispanic woman only four feet eleven inches tall,
said, “I think we should go visit him.” Paragraphs 4 - 8
2. What caused Linda’s mom to
[5] “Visit who?” I asked. speak with the principal?

[6] “The principal.” Complete the sentence in the box

below: Linda’s mom speaks with
[7] “Visit the principal?” I was terrified. Would I get in trouble? Would the principal because…

my mother and I be crossing boundaries we shouldn’t cross? ________________________________

________________________________
[8] My mom and I went to Mr. White’s office. “Linda wants to do the ________________________________
high jump,” my mother said. ________________________________
________________________________
[9] “Mrs. Martinez, you don’t understand. This is the tradition3 of our
________________________________
Annual Sports Day,” he said. ________________________________

1
happening once every year
2
High jumping is a sport where people try to jump over a bar to see who can jump the highest.
3
a way of doing something that is passed down over time

Identifying Cause and Effect: Jumping Over Boundaries 4

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[10] “But Señor White, I don’t know where it says that girls cannot do Paragraphs 9 - 14

this.” 3. What causes Mr. White to change

his mind and allow girls to high
[11] The principal couldn’t find any rules that said girls couldn’t do the jump?

high jump. “I have to think about this,” he said at last. A. Linda showed Mr. White how
good she was at the high
[12] When we got home, my mom told me something I would always jump.
B. Linda’s coach asked Mr. White
remember: this wasn’t just about me. “Maybe other girls want to do
to allow girls to do the high
this, too,” she said. jump.
C. Linda’s mother asked other
[13] My mother waited a week, and then she walked over to the girls if they wanted to do the
school. “Señor White, please. I ask you this not for me and not for high jump too.
D. Linda’s mother pushed Mr.
Linda, but let’s just see how it works.” White to understand that girls
should not be left out.
[14] In the end, Mr. White agreed.

[15] As it turned out, I won the high-jumping contest. To my surprise,

some of the cheers I got were from boys! My mother was right — it
wasn’t about me. It was about making people think about what girls
could do.

[16] High jumping helped me to understand that people would not

always accept4 or welcome me. I used this lesson in my career5 as a
building contractor. Just as girls did not do the high jump, women were
not supposed to construct6 buildings.

[17] When I first started in business, my mother would say to me in

Spanish, “Mi’ jita, empieza pequeño, pero piensa grande” (My dear
little one, start small, but think big). I found small ways to begin to
show what I could do. I began by installing7 concrete curbs, gutters,
and sidewalks.

4
Accept (verb): to consider something or someone good and right
5
Career (noun): the work a person chooses to do during their life
6
Construct (verb): to build; put things together
7
to put in place; to make ready for use

Identifying Cause and Effect: Jumping Over Boundaries 5

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[18] Today, my company, Alvarado Construction, builds large projects, Paragraphs 15 - 18

including schools, aquariums, airports, and convention centers. I love 4. What was the effect of Linda
being able to do the high jump on
my job. I view my career much like Robert Frost’s poem. I took the
her career?
path least traveled by girls and women, and this has really made a ________________________________
difference. ________________________________
________________________________
Copyright © Highlights for Children, Inc., Columbus, Ohio. All rights reserved.
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________

Identifying Cause and Effect: Jumping Over Boundaries 6

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Name Class

PART 5: Assessment
Directions: Answer the questions.

1. What is the cause and effect relationship between Linda’s mothers words (Paragraph 17) and
Linda’s successful career in construction?

A. Linda ignores her mother’s words but becomes successful anyway.

B. Linda loves her mother so she always listens to what her mother says.
C. Linda’s mothers words help make her a successful high-jump Olympic athlete.
D. Linda’s mothers words help her understand that she can do anything she wants.

2. Linda went on to have a successful career in construction. Think about what you want to be when you grow up.
What are three things you can do now (causes) to help you succeed in your future career (effect)?

Identifying Cause and Effect: Jumping Over Boundaries 7

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