Comparing and contrasting is one of those skills that students develop as they learn more about the world, learn more, and become curious about everything from space to animals on coral reefs. As students learn about complex topics, a compare and contrast graphic organizer can help them make sense of information and make connections.
Yes, there is always a Venn diagram, but comparing and contrasting goes beyond this graphic organizer. Challenge students to analyze compare and contrast essays and write their own using the compare and contrast graphic organizers in our printable collection.
Read more: Photo Editors 101: Why and How to Use Them
1. Cut-Paste Comparison
Use this compare and contrast organizer to help students identify specific ways two topics are different and similar. Students can write facts in each square and use the space in the middle to write the same. Or they can cut squares and organize information in a multi-sensory way.
Use these comparison and contrast ratios to teach students this writing format.
2. Compare and Contrast Boxes
This is a great chart to get students started as they think about comparing and contrasting. As students read about two topics, they write how the two are similar in the top row and ways they are different in the columns below. Start with a two-column image editor and move on to a three-column editor when students can tell the difference.
3. Note Taking Compare and Contrast Photo Editor
As students listen to a discussion or lesson or read a text, have them think about what they are reading and how the information is different from one topic, or if it shares features with another topic. For example, learning about two types of weather and noting how they are different and similar. Using this graphic organizer, students can write notes on two topics and note what similarities they see between them.
4. Compare and Contrast the Essay Image Editor
It’s one thing to analyze what they’re reading, and another to write using compare and contrast. Students can organize their ideas to write an essay or article using a compare and contrast format.
Use these compare and contrast topics to get students’ wheels turning.
5. The castle of comparison
Teach students another way to compare and contrast using a chart. Students identify what they are comparing (eg, types of books, types of animals) and write each contrast in the columns. They can highlight similarities between different topics.
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Looking for more study comprehension strategies? Check out 14 Powerful Reading Comprehension Techniques for Teaching Students.
