CLUSTER 3: Compare and Contrast  

 

 

 

Benchmark

 

 

LA.A.2.2.7

The student recognizes the use of comparison and contrast in a text.

 

 

Passage Attributes

 

 

·        Passage may be literary text or informational text

·        The passages will include elements that can be compared and/or contrasted

·        To assess this benchmark across texts, items should be based on one of the following:

  1. two passages related in theme or topic
  2. one passage consisting of sections that contain elements that can be compared or contrasted

 

Benchmark Clarification

The student identifies or explains in writing when or how comparison and contrast are used within or across texts.

 

Item Types

 

 

Multiple Choice (MC);     Short Response (SR)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question Stems

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multiple Choice questions for this benchmark would look like:

 

·        What advantage did _____ have over _____?

·        Why did _____ than _____?

·        Why does the author compare the _____ to _____?

·        What do _____ and _____ have in common?

·        In what way is this “_____” an appropriate comparison?

·        How is _____ similar/dissimilar to _____?

·        How is _____ like/unlike _____?

·        How is _____ both similar and different from _____?

 

Short Response (SR) questions for this benchmark would look like the multiple choice stems above and end with one of the statements below:

 

  • Use details from the story/passage to support your answer.
  • Support your answer with details from the text.

 

 

 

 

 

Distracters

 

 

 

 

 

Incorrect answers that would "distract" students from identifying the correct answer would include, but would not be limited to, the following:

 

·        Incorrect comparisons or contrasts

·        Facts or details that are drawn from the passage(s) but are not related to the stimulus

·        Plausible but incorrect responses based on the text

 

 

BENCHMARK

LA.A2.2.7

 

 

 

Definition

 

Comparison: shows how two items are alike

Contrast: shows how two items are different

 

 

 

Signal Words

 

 

 

Different from              Although                        But    

Same as                         However                        On the other hand

Similar to                      Compared with              Unless

As opposed to                As well as

Instead of                       Either… or 

 

 

Top Three Strategies

 

 

 

·        Venn Diagram

·        H- Diagram

·        Semantic Feature Analysis

 

SOURCES:

1.       FCAT Reading Test Item and Performance Task Specifications, Florida DOE, January 2001

2.       FCAT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

Compare and Contrast Strategy Explanation

 

Venn Diagram Explanation

 

  1. Provide students with a Venn Diagram Graphic Organizer or have students draw overlapping circles. 
  2. Have students label the paper with the appropriate heading.  Then label each circle to represent the two concepts being compared and contrasted.
  3. First, discuss similarities between the two concepts and record them in the overlapping section. These are things the two concepts have in common.
  4. As the two concepts are being contrasted, differences should be recorded in the non-overlapping sections. 

 

 

 

 

 

Semantic Feature Analysis

Explanation

 

  1. Based on what you are studying, select a category, topic, story, etc.
  2. Create a grid.  Put the vocabulary words you want students to focus on vertically down one axis.  List features or ideas associated with those words horizontally across the other axis.
  3.  Students complete the grid.  Students complete the grid by indicating with a check mark or minus sign whether each word possesses the stated features or is related to the ideas.  A check mark indicates that the word is related to the idea, and the minus sign indicates that it does not relate to the feature. 
  4. Discuss completed grids with students.  Discussing grids with students will allow students to learn from one another and reinforce ideas in the grid.

 

Before reading:

If you want to elicit students’ prior knowledge, have students complete the grid before they begin reading the text.  Then, after students have read the text, they can come back to the grid and determine if they have changed their minds about any of their decisions. 

 

During/After reading:

If you choose to have students complete the grid during and/or after they read, you will be providing them with a purpose for reading and a way to monitor their comprehension.

    • This strategy works best if modeled by the teacher using a transparency and overhead.
    • The features and words can be pre-determined by the teacher in advance or the students could determine features and words.