Reading Comprehension: Compare & Contrast

Dear Parents,

One of the reading comprehension skills that a child should master is the ability to compare and contrast different pieces of information in order to more accurately decipher the meaning or intent behind the information. Following are several Internet resources that may help your child to improve this important skill.

Crocodiles & Alligators

Read along and listen to this article about crocodiles and alligators for an excellent example of expository writing structured by the concept of compare and contrast.  Questions are provided at the end of the article as writing or talking prompts.

The Daily Life of Pilgrims & Wampanoag
As part of a unit, The First Thanksgiving, provided by the good people at Scholastic.com, this interactive webpage compares and contrasts the food, clothing, housing, school, chores and games of the pilgrims and the native people, the Wampanoag. Other entertaining and informative parts of this unit include a virtual tour of the Mayflower and a slideshow and web quest about the first Thanksgiving feast.

Something is Different
This printable worksheet provides 6 different opportunities to identify which picture out of four is different. You and your can also just view the worksheet on the screen.

Comprehension Upgrade
Choose Activity #42, Compare and Contrast, to see how a use a Venn Diagram as a graphic organizer to visualize information to improve comprehension.