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Interactive Video for Comparing and Contrasting 

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Interactive Video for Comparing and Contrasting 

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This interactive video shows students how to correctly use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the characters, events and settings in the same story.

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Different techniques to Compare and Contrast for different learning styles 

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Different techniques to Compare and Contrast for different learning styles 

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This website shows 9 strategies that teachers can use to teach students with different learning styles. Students can use either of these strategies to compare and contrast while reading and analyzing a story and/or book.

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Looking for a Venn Diagram alternative to help spice up your compare and contrast lessons? Check out the 9 activity ideas below for your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classroom.

5. Use Tables or Charts to Compare and Contrast

We tend to lean on Venn Diagram graphic organizers when teaching comparing and contrasting, but students will encounter tables and charts much more often in the real world.

Teaching students how to create tables designed to compare and contrast requires high level thinking and will help them be able to read and interpret tables much more easily.

Check out these tips for using tables and charts in your compare and contrast unit here.

6. Have Students Create and Justify Rankings

When we rank or put things in a specific order based on certain qualifications, we are really comparing and contrasting. This type of ranking activity can be integrated into your classroom activities very easily with no prep.

For example, you can easily ask your students to write down the last 5 books you have read as a class in order from their favorite to their least favorite. Then, have students explain their reasoning. They will automatically be comparing and contrasting the books they have read in their head.
Check out these no prep ideas on how to use rankings in your reading, science, and social studies lessons here.
9. Fill in Compare and Contrast Graphic Organizers

Once again, our go to graphic organizer for comparing and contrasting is the Venn Diagram. However, a quick search on google or Pinterest will provide a variety of comparing and contrasting graphic organizers to choose from!

Download these reading passages with a compare and contrast activity for free and use it to today!
compare and contrast

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9 Comparing and Contrasting Ideas for the Classroom

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Move over, Venn Diagrams! Here are 9 new ways to help your upper elementary students compare and contrast - and have fun doing it!

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Bulletin board/organizer for teaching Comparing and Contrasting 

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Bulletin board/organizer for teaching Comparing and Contrasting 

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These are examples of different and artistic ways that teachers can decorate/organize their "Compare and Contrast" theme bulletin board in the classroom.

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We haven't yet covered the skill of compare or contrast this year, so I didn't really know what to expect. Since I wasn't sure what and how much my kids would know, I tried to plan accordingly. Thankfully, the lesson was just right! It allowed my kids to practice identifying specific details in a text and compare/contrast them to other details. I was surprised to find that a lot of the kids were only comparing the people in each story, not events or things. I feel like we learned a lot and accomplished something today. :) Here's what we did

We did a little warm up activity by completing a paper plate venn diagram on two pictures. I gave the plate to one person, they wrote something on the diagram and then asked someone else if they had something to add. The venn diagram was passed around to several people before we moved onto the next activity.

These sheets will be used throughout the week as morning work/warm ups. We need a lot of practicing with writing summaries so these will work great! If you'd like a copy, let me know and I'll upload them.

Now for the main part of the lesson. We divided into groups and went around the room to a passage, like the one below:

Each group read the passage, identified the two characters/things/events that were in the text, and completed a venn diagram on the similarities/differences

Graphic organziers can be found here.

Passages can be found here.

That's how we spent our day :) Be sure and head over to Southern Belle Inspired to find out where to get these gorgeous pencils. Every teacher needs pretty pencils, right? :)

Have a great week, y'all!

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Life in Fifth Grade: Compare and Contrast

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We haven't yet covered the skill of compare or contrast this year, so I didn't really know what to expect. Since I wasn't sure what and how much my kids would know, I tried to plan accordingly. Thankfully, the lesson was just right!

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Books for reading/teaching Comparing and Contrasting 

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Books for reading/teaching Comparing and Contrasting 

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This website is a list of books that students can read and identify the similarities and differences between each book's characters, events and settings.

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Are you getting ready to teach your students to compare and contrast? It's very important to have the right materials on hand. Here are some of my favorite books to use when teaching students to compare and contrast.

You can click on any of the covers below to learn more about each book or find all of these books on my Amazon page.

we are a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Books with a Compare and Contrast Text Structure

There are so many books that already have a built-in compare and contrast structure out there, so it only makes sense to share these with your students. Here are a few that I enjoy.

The Pain and the Great One

I am the Dog. I am the Cat

Shark vs. Train

Cats vs. Dogs

Fairy Tales and Fractured Fairy Tales

I like to use fairy tales because students are usually familiar with them and there are so many varieties of each story out there that lend themselves to comparing and contrasting. For these stories, students can focus on comparing and contrasting the characters, the setting, the plot, and even the illustrations. Some of these fairy tales may also include cultural references. You can choose any fairy tale to use, but here are three that most students tend to be familiar with.

Cinderella

The Three Little Pigs

Goldilocks

Books That Have Been Turned Into Movies

I'm not sure how you feel, but the book is almost always better than the movie. However, students may not agree. After reading the book and seeing the movie, there are opportunities for rich conversations. Students can compare and contrast the characters, the setting, the plot, and more! Just make sure you follow your school and district policy about watching movies at school.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

You can grab a free book vs. movie comparison sheet in this blog post.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlotte's Web

Stuart Little

Books in a Series

Once students find a character they love, they become immersed in a book series. This allows students to compare and contrast the way a character behaves when faced with a new challenge. If you are a third grade teacher in a Common Core state, some of these options would be great for tackling RL 3.9, especially with some of your lower readers! Here are some of my favorites for each series below.

Ready, Freddy!

This series follows Freddy Thresher from first grade to second grade. He is a shark expert-in-training who has a lot of fears and worries, but also has loyal friends who help him stand up to the class bully. This series is written by Abby Klein.

Magic Tree House

The Magic Tree House series follows Jack and Annie as they learn more about the past through their adventures in a traveling tree house. I love how Mary Pope Osborne keeps the focus on fictional writing, but weaves in a little nonfiction from time to time. Most of the books in the series also have a nonfiction companion for students who want to dive deeper into a subject area.

Junie B. Jones

Junie B. Jones is a bold and unique character written by Barbara Park, who really captures the spirit of a child in a kindergarten and first grade classroom.

Elephant & Piggie

The Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems follows Gerald (the elephant) and his friend, Piggie, as they tackle topics that young students can easily relate to.

Books by the Same Author

Like books in a series, an author's style of writing can draw in readers. By reading two or more books by the same author, students can compare and contrast the characters, setting, plot, illustrations, genre, and theme. I'm sharing a few of my favorites from each author below.

Kevin Henkes

When reading books by Kevin Henkes, I love to compare and contrast the characters and the plot of each story.

Jan Brett

If you are not familiar with Jan Brett, you need to grab some of her books and really zone in on the illustrations and how they relate to her style of storytelling.

Chris Van Allsburg

For my higher readers, I love using picture books by Chris Van Allsburg. His writing style is so unique and offers a lot of rich conversations.

Other authors you should consider are Patricia Polacco, Jacqueline Woodson, Robert Munsch, and Mo Willems (who has more lovable characters than just Gerald & Piggie).

Did you see a book or two that you like? You can find all of these books on my Amazon page.

Compare and Contrast Graphic Organizers

Now that you have gathered some great texts, it's time to put these to work. Before you begin, you need to make sure your students know what you are asking them to do. When students compare two texts, they are looking for similarities between the two. When students contrast two texts, they are identifying the differences between the two. Some of the most common ways to help students organize their thinking are with three tools: a Venn Diagram, a T-Chart, and a Double-Bubble Map. My all time favorite is what I call a Box and T-Chart. No matter which graphic organizer you choose, you need to model, model, and model some more before you can expect your students to use them independently.

Here's an example of a Box and T-Chart. In this example, we compared the two characters from The Pain and the Great One by Judy Blume.

Since there are so many versions of Cinderella out there, we chose a more traditional version of the story and two fractured fairy tale versions. We used a Venn Diagram to compare the three stories. Since this can be tricky, we outlined the different parts of the story with colors to show where the stories overlapped.

These graphic organizers can be found in this free download on Teachers Pay Teachers. I also have a set of reading response sheets and graphic organizers that you might enjoy. You can click on either of the pictures below to learn more. The magnifying glass will make the image larger. The arrow will take you to the correct link.

Do you have any books you love for teaching students to compare and contrast? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Reading!

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Books for Teaching Students to Compare and Contrast

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Are you getting ready to teach your students to compare and contrast? It's very important to have the right materials on hand. Here are some of my When teaching your students to compare and contrast, you need to have the right materials on hand. Here are some of my favorite books to use.

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Interactive Activity for Comparing and Contrasting 

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Interactive Activity for Comparing and Contrasting 

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This interactive activity helps students to identify and vocalize the similarities and differences of characters, events and setting in the short stories that are printed on their cards. This activity can be done as a small group.

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Description

Comparing and contrasting is a challenging reading skill. Each of these 27 cards features a short passage along with two text-dependent questions. To add more rigor, several of the cards may also require some inference for full understanding. Each card is focused either on people, places, events, or a nonfiction topic.

Great for test prep or as extra practice for your text structures lesson. You could use them orally with small groups and have students discuss the answers. They could also be used individually with students responding either in paragraph format, with a Venn diagram, or on the provided answer sheet. Answer keys are also included.

Black line versions included for printing in black and white. They look great on bright colored paper!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contents of this set include:
Contents of this set include:

Directions and Suggestions

27 Task Cards Color

27 Task Cards Black Line

Cover Card

Student Answer Sheet

Answer Keys

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What teachers have said about this resource:
♥ Love, love, love these! I've used these in centers and in small group intervention practice. I've used them with Venn Diagrams and T-charts...they work well for both. -Lisa H.

♥ I thought this was a fun activity for practicing comparing and contrasting skills with my students. I am always looking for new ways to present information. Sometimes it is hard to find activities that are not too simple for my upper elementary students. This is a great addition to my comparing and contrasting unit. Thank you! -Lindsay M.

♥ These task cards were awesome! Was able to use a card as a warm up for students and in centers. The cards also promote critical thinking, which is a huge plus! Thanks!! -Jade F.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Also available in a money-saving Reading Strategies Task Card Bundle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright information:
Purchasing this product grants permission for use by one teacher in his or her own classroom.

Happy Teaching!

Rachel Lynette

Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.

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Compare and Contrast Task Cards - Short Passages, Color and Black Line Included!

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Comparing and contrasting is a challenging reading skill. Each of these 27 cards features a short passage along with two text-dependent questions. To add more rigor, several of the cards may also require some inference for full understanding. Each card is focused either on people, places, events, or a nonfiction topic.

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Practice Worksheet for Comparing and Contrasting

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Practice Worksheet for Comparing and Contrasting

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This worksheet allows students to practice using a Venn diagram. They can also practice reading a short story and comparing/contrasting between the factual information of two animals.

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Short informational passages to teach students how to compare and contrast - venn diagram organizer in… | Compare and contrast, 2nd grade reading, Reading classroom

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Jan 20, 2014 - Short informational passages to teach students how to compare and contrast - venn diagram organizer included on the sheet. Common core aligned

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PowerPoint for comparing and contrasting characters, settings and events.

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PowerPoint for comparing and contrasting characters, settings and events.

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This PowerPoint can be used to introduce the lesson of comparing and contrasting characters, settings and events in one story and/or book.

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RL 5.3 Compare and Contrast PowerPoint Bundle

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This lesson introduces and teaches CC RL 5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events...drawing on specific details in the text. In these lessons students will be expected to identify specific elements about the characters, settings, and events in the story, and then will n...

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Vocabulary chart for Comparing and Contrasting

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Vocabulary chart for Comparing and Contrasting

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This chart will help students identify keywords in a story when characters, events and settings are the same and when they are different.

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Compare and Contrast Activity Fun | Writing anchor charts, Reading anchor charts, Compare and contrast

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Jan 6, 2016 - Our big comprehension focus for the 4th quarter is Comparing and Contrasting. For the first few weeks, we focus on the basics. We use lots of photographs and visual activities to practice comparing and contrasting two objects, animals, people, or places. I want to make sure my students have a solid understanding of how…

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This video can be used to introduce the standard and objective on comparing and contrasting. Students will obtain a clear idea of the standard.

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How to Teach Students to Compare and Contrast

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This image will help students understand the meaning and/or definition of Comparing and Contrasting.

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Compare and Contrast for 5th Grade: ELAGSE5RL3: Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact). Objective: Use similarities or differences in a story to compare and contrast between two characters.

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Compare and Contrast for 5th Grade: ELAGSE5RL3: Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact). Objective: Use similarities or differences in a story to compare and contrast between two characters.

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This board has 10 sources to use for the 5th grade level standard and lesson of comparing and contrasting between the characters, events and settings in a book or short story that you're students are reading. This page includes images, interactive videos, charts, power-points, websites, worksheets, books and examples that will help a child to understand the standard and the objective and/or lesson being taught to them. All of the 10 resources provided can be used to teach and engage students with differently learning styles and/or abilities in the classroom.