LESSON TWO: Compare and Contrast
LESSON DESCRIPTION
Students share their questions about nonfiction animal picture books. Students use their writer’s notebooks to compare and contrast two texts.
GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS
R3C Use details from texts to answer questions, retell main idea and important details, organize a sequence of events, identify simple cause and effect, draw conclusions, compare and contrast texts, identify author’s purpose for writing text, and make inferences about problems and solutions.
LESSON MATERIALS
§ Sources of literature
§ Supplies
o Touchstone text 2
o Anchor Chart
o Chart paper
o Writer’s notebook/pencils
§ Handouts provided
o Scoring guide for Venn diagram
§ Words to know
o author’s purpose
o cause and effect
o compare
o contrast
o draw conclusions
o retell
o main idea
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Teacher observation, viewing of students’ writing notebooks, anecdotal records, and scoring guide for Venn Diagram.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
1. Review questions from the students’ writer’s notebook from the previous day’s lesson. Answer questions if possible and refer to the collection of nonfiction animal picture books in the classroom. Encourage students to answer questions that arise.
2. Read touchstone text two aloud, highlighting the essential elements and the types of information found in the nonfiction animal picture books.
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Questions for Students
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What do these books have in common? What do you think the author’s purpose was in this book? What could you learn from these books? How could you use these books? What kinds of topics do you notice? How are these books arranged? (format of a text/nonfiction text features) Do you usually check these kinds of books from the library? What is usually the main idea of these texts? |
3. Add to the “Things We Notice About Nonfiction Animal Picture Books” anchor chart. Reinforce the essential elements.
4. Students compare and contrast the previous day’s text with today’s in their writer’s notebook. Model drawing a Venn Diagram. Students should recognize common threads found in the nonfiction animal picture books. Students complete Venn Diagram.
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Strategy
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Common threads among the nonfiction animal picture books should include categories such as habitat, foods, shelter, young, special body parts, appearance. |
5. Teacher conferences with students individually and makes anecdotal record.