Comparing and Contrasting Stories

Need a cute anchor chart for comparing and contrasting stories?  Use this one! 


Before I jumped into comparing and contrasting stories, I  spent some time making sure my students knew what it means to compare and contrast. We wrote the definitions in our ELA notebooks and then practiced the skill by comparing and contrasting ourselves with a classmate. Here are some pictures:

Definitions of compare and contrast in our interactive ELA notebook.

Comparing and contrasting ourselves with a partner.  This was an easy and fun way for my students to practice the skill.  I'm hoping these partners can add a few more examples to their Venn Diagram tomorrow!


Then we read Red Riding Hood (my students actually voted for that one over five other choices -- very surprising since my class is boy heavy) and completed this activity. Notice how the main points on the anchor chart match the activity?  That didn't happen by accident! 

Next week, we'll read Lon Po Po (which is the Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood) and do the same thing. Then I'll have my students compare and contrast the two versions by highlighting the differences. 

I hope you found a few goodies to use in your classroom!