Curated OER
Is TV Stronger Than Ever, or Becoming Obsolete?
The New York Times offers of two articles and two summaries for learners to consider. They read each article and then post a blog response to each of the seven related questions. The topic of the articles asks the question; Is TV...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Unit 2: Early American Civilizations
Fifth graders explore early American civilizations in a four-week ELA unit. Every lesson offers an opportunity to read and discuss a selected passage followed by word work that covers vocabulary, grammar, and morphology. Learners write...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Unit 7: Poetry
Over the course of a 12-lesson language arts unit, young scholars analyze a variety of poems taking a close look at figurative language and tone. They learn to compare and contrast, improve comprehension, and identify settings. To...
EngageNY
Getting the Gist and Determining Word Meaning: Paragraphs 12–14 of Steve Jobs’ Commencement Address (and connecting to Chapter 8)
Groups use a Venn diagram to compare the theme of love and loss in Steve Jobs' 2005 commencement address to Stanford University students and Christopher Paul Curtis' Bud, Not Buddy.
Curated OER
A Boxful of Character
I can't wait to try this activity with my class. It's versatile and could be modified to fit any character analysis lesson. To analyze characters thoroughly, learners create life boxes. Each box will pertain to a character from any...
NOAA
Mud is Mud...or is it?
We know that the type of soil varies by location, but does the seafloor sediment also vary, or is it all the same? Scholars compare photos of the seafloor from two different locations: the Savannah Scarp and the Charleston Bump. Through...
Curated OER
Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum
Henry David Thoreau and Linda Ronstadt? Ann Tyler and Pete Townshend? Joyce Carol Oates and Pearl Jam? This richly detailed plan pairs classic literature with contemporary music and asks learners to analyze how the theme of conformity is...
Literacy Design Collaborative
A Pale Blue Dot: That's Here. That's Home. That's Us.
21st-century learners live in such a visual world that many are unused to letting their minds imagine the picture that words create. An excerpt from Carl Sagan's lecture, "The Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space,"...
Creative Competitions, Inc.
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Fantastic Fairy Tale
Learning about literature can be so much fun; it can also be made more accessible through projects and dramatic play. As they explore theme, character, and setting, the class gets creative and makes a dramatic recreation of a classic...
Curated OER
Contrasting Cinderellas
Learners compare and contrast the traditional Cinderella to the modern-day fairy tale, Cinder Edna. In this fairy tales instructional activity, students read both stories and construct a Venn diagram to compare the two fairy tales....
K-5 Math Teaching Resources
Venn Diagram Template Lined
Compare and contrast two subjects with this Venn diagram template. The printable graphic organizer has made writing in each part easy with printed lines and it can be implemented in a variety ways.
Curated OER
The Bee: comprehension skills
In this comprehension skills worksheet, students read the book The Bee and complete comprehension activities. Students complete 5 activities including graphic aids, compare and contrast, sequencing, and cause and effect.
Curated OER
Comparing the 1945 Vietnam Declaration of Independence and Constitution of 1992 with the United States Declaration of Independence and Constitution
Students compare and contrast the Vietnamese and American plans for government. In this government systems lesson, students analyze and compare excerpts of the 1945 Vietnam Declaration of Independence, the Vietnam Constitution of 1992,...
Syracuse City School District
Reading Comprehension Unit Plan
A unit plan uses short texts to teach literary elements such as theme and characterization. Included are passages by authors such as Walter Dean Myers and Sandra Cisneros. Activities include quick writes, filling in graphic organizers,...
Curated OER
“The Devil and Tom Walker” Active Reading Worksheet
For this reading reflection worksheet, students read the short story "The Devil and Tom Walker" and respond to the 18 short answer questions regarding the plot of the story as they read.
Curated OER
Strange Sports
Sixth graders compare and contrast strange sports. In this comparing lesson, 6th graders read an article about strange sports then compare and contrast these sports to ones they are familiar with. This lesson includes an assessment,...
Curated OER
Miss Nelson is Missing / Miss Nelson Is Back- Lesson 2
Learners read and analyze a story. In this compare and contrast lesson, students re-read Miss Nelson is Missing and use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast Miss Nelson and Miss Viola Swamp. Learners write about their...
Curated OER
My Daily Life in Kansas
Second graders use 'Read Kansas' cards to learn about the daily life activities of an Osage boy and a pioneer girl. In this similarities and differences lesson, 2nd graders write a paragraph and draw a picture comparing...
Curated OER
Miss Nelson Is Missing/Miss Nelson Is Back- Lesson 4
Young scholars compare two stories. In this compare and contrast lesson, students read Miss Nelson is Missing and Miss Nelson is Back. Young scholars brainstorm similarities and differences in the two stories, use a Venn...
Curated OER
The Planet Mars
Fifth graders gain knowledge about Mars and Earth. In this compare and contrast lesson, 5th graders use visual representations of the solar system to observe the characteristics of the planets. Students read fiction and nonfiction...
Curated OER
Cinderella Trilogy
Young scholars look at three different versions of the Cinderella story. In this comparative literature lesson plan, students read the Chinese version "Yeh-Shen", the Egyptian version "Rhodopis," and the Native American version "The...
Curated OER
Harcourt Story: Eleanor and Amelia Go for a Ride
Fourth graders are introduced to a list of vocabulary words as it relates to the story Eleanor and Amelia Go for a Ride and a use graphic organizer to clarify the meaning of the text. In this "Eleanor and Amelia Go for a Ride"...
Curated OER
Delegating Authorities
Students compare and contrast democracies around the world after reading a New York Times article. They create posters and participate in a "democracy roundtable" in which they discuss two democracies.
Curated OER
One Room Schoolhouse
Students study pictures and artifacts of the one-room schoolhouse. For this compare and contrast lesson,students list similarities and differences in schools of today and one-room schoolhouses. Then students use this analysis to...