Part 3: “Hilda Must Be Dancing” and “Giraffes Can’t Dance” — Compare/Contrast (cont.)

Give each child a completed map identical to the one on your white board (shown below is our version) and on the reverse side have ready a map with just a blank template for drawing.

Ask the children to look at the side with the text and review the compare/contrast items they came up with in the previous lesson. Make, and have ready, several baggies containing the compare/contrast words presented yesterday and ask students to place them in front of them, as shown.

Then, ask the students to Turn and Talk to share how the two books were the same/different using the map and these words in their sentences (as modeled yesterday). Ask them to hold up one of the words as they use it in their sentences. Model this for the children. (BOTH animals tried. Gerald danced just on land but Hilda danced on land and in water. UNLIKE Hilda, Gerald could only dance on land.) Circulate as the children talk with one another. Share some of the responses when the group comes together.

Ask the children: After thinking about this activity, can you think of other ways that the two stories are the same/different that we did not list? Hold a brief discussion (you will be surprised at the details the students come up with!).

On the reverse side of the paper, ask the children to illustrate one way the two books were the same and one way the two books were different. Have the students share their drawings , telling the class orally what they have drawn, when completed, using the words as in the Turn and Talk activity using the cohesive ties both, same, alike, different, unlike, and but.

Let’s take a look at some of the picture samples below from students in a first grade class:

Depending on your students, you may ask them to write a sentence(s) about how the two stories were the same and how they were different. I found this to be a great follow-up activity for a center.

PLEASE feel free to share two books that you have compared/contrasted with your students on our MindWing Facebook page or join and share on our MindWing Professional Learning Community site.

Also, check out two of our previous blogs related to the topic of jungle animals:

• Cheetahs 9/3/15 and
• The Classroom Curriculum: The Five Senses 5/16/15, featuring Rain by Manya Stojic