Let's Compare!

Happy Tuesday! Today, I will share a lesson my class did and a Ramona Recommends find! :)  I am super excited about a reading lesson I taught this week and wanted to share. This week in reading, we are focusing on compare and contrast. I work with the strategic group and break concepts into manageable parts. I created an anchor chart to help bring my lesson to life. Here is the plain chart before the students brainstormed. In RTI, I have 4 different rotations. Each group comes to me for 15 minutes. I began the lesson discussing the meaning of compare and contrast. We then talked about test questions that might use key words to symbolize compare and contrast. To gauge understanding, I had my students compare and contrast me with another child in the group. Since they passed with flying colors we moved onto my anchor chart. The students compared a running shoe to a flip flop. I asked them to think in a more general sense. I gave them 1 minute of think time and then I had them work together in pairs to come up with some ideas. I was floored with some of their ideas. I made it a competition so everyone would participate. I gave each group a color and wrote in that marker. By the last group, they really had to dig, but it was my highest group- so I call that differentiation! :)

Here are the amazing ideas the 5th graders came up with!

To wrap up our lesson, we did a you do activity. Students each had a partner and they interviewed each other about their birthdays. Most of my groups are uneven, so I got to play along. Then they filled out a venn diagram chart. Click on the picture below for a copy of the venn diagram.

 Tomorrow, we will be sharing these. Can't wait to hear about how my students celebrate their birthdays.

On Thursday, we will be using Teaching with a Mountain View's Compare and Contrast task cards. My kids LOVE them! excited!

Whenever I teach compare and contrast, I always think of Cinderella. I am sure most of us have had our students compare different versions of this beloved tale.

One of my favorite versions is Cindy Ellen- A Wild Western Cinderella. I love this version for many reasons. My dad is from the south so I can relate; the author is from Tucson where I went to college, and it is plain funny! Your students will meet Cindy Ellen who is as sweet as can be! You do not need to read, just when comparing and contrasting. This book can be read all year long. I  hope to read it to my kids this week.