• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Choose the best summary of a short text). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Honeybees live in colonies of thousands. The queen lays the eggs. Worker bees collect nectar and pollen, look after the young and guard the hive. Drones have one job: to mate with a queen. Every bee has a role that keeps the colony alive. Which is the best summary? (In a honeybee colony, the queen, workers and drones each have a job that keeps the hive alive. / Drones are male bees. / Worker bees collect nectar and pollen. / Bees are the most amazing insects in the world.) → In a honeybee colony, the queen, workers and drones each have a job that keeps the hive alive.Prompt: A summary is short and covers the WHOLE text, not just one part.
2. Amara's family moved to a flat with no garden, and she missed growing things. She asked the neighbours if she could use the empty plant boxes on the shared balcony. By summer, the boxes were full of strawberries, and neighbours who had never spoken before were chatting and swapping recipes. Which is the best summary of the story? (Everyone should swap recipes. / Amara turns empty balcony boxes into a garden that brings her neighbours together. / The flat had no garden. / Amara grew strawberries.) → Amara turns empty balcony boxes into a garden that brings her neighbours together.Prompt: A summary is short and covers the WHOLE text, not just one part.
3. Wind turbines turn moving air into electricity. The wind spins the blades, which turn a generator inside the tower. Wind power does not burn fuel, so it does not release smoke, but turbines only work when the wind blows. Which is the best summary? (Wind turbines use spinning blades to make clean electricity, but only when it is windy. / There is a generator in the tower. / Wind turbines are the best invention ever. / Turbines have blades.) → Wind turbines use spinning blades to make clean electricity, but only when it is windy.Prompt: A summary is short and covers the WHOLE text, not just one part.

• Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
• Share the objective: Compare and contrast: how are they alike and different?. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Story A: Priya trained every morning before school and won the cross-country race. Story B: Tom rehearsed the piano every evening and played perfectly at the concert. How are Priya and Tom ALIKE?
• Step 1: Comparing means finding what is the same; contrasting means finding what is different.
• Step 2: So the answer is: Both worked hard and succeeded.
• Answer: Both worked hard and succeeded.
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Text A: Paper bags break down quickly, but making them uses a lot of energy and water. Text B: Cotton bags last for years, but they must be reused many times to be better for the planet. What do BOTH texts show? (Paper bags are perfect. / Cotton bags are always bad. / Bags should never be used. / Each kind of bag has good and bad points.) → Each kind of bag has good and bad points.Prompt: Read both texts and note what each says about the same topic.
2. Which signal word or phrase shows a SIMILARITY? (however / unlike / whereas / both) → bothPrompt: Try the word in a sentence: 'Cats purr; ___, dogs bark.'

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Text A: Crocodiles have long, narrow, V-shaped snouts. Text B: Alligators have wide, rounded, U-shaped snouts. How are the two animals DIFFERENT? (how many legs they have / where they sleep / the shape of their snouts / the colour of their eggs) → the shape of their snoutsPrompt: Read both texts and note what each says about the same topic.
2. Which signal word or phrase shows a DIFFERENCE? (whereas / in the same way / both / similarly) → whereasPrompt: Try the word in a sentence: 'Cats purr; ___, dogs bark.'

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-5.