Compare & Contrast Pictures

Building academic language

Word

• Tell the class that the crayon and the marker are the same, or alike, because you can write with both of them.
• Share that you just compared the two objects. Explain that when you compare, you think about how things are the same.
• Tell the class that the crayon and the marker are different, or not the same, because they are made of different materials.
• Share that you just contrasted the two objects. Explain that when you contrast, you think about how things are different.

Sentence

• Tell students that when you compare objects, you can use the following sentence frame:
  • The ____ and the ____ are the same because ____.
• Using the example of the marker and crayon, say, "The marker and the crayon are the same because you can write with both of them."
• Tell students that when you contrast objects, you can use the following sentence frame:
  • The ____ (marker) and the ____ (crayon) are different because ____ (they are made of different materials).
• Hold up two different picture books. Have students use the above sentence frames to compare and contrast the books using the information they see on the covers.

Discourse

• Put students in pairs, and hand out two picture books to each pair for students to examine. Have students use the following sentence frames:
  • The books are the same because ____.
  • The books are different because ____.
• Hand out index cards to students and have them write or draw ways that the books are the same on one card and ways that the books are different on the other card.