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English lesson plan · 5th grade (Year 6 in England) · 45 minutes

Compare and contrast: how are they alike and different?

Reading Comprehension

CCSS RI.5.3CCSS RL.5.3CCSS RL.5.9England: Y5/6 Reading (comparing within and across texts)England: KS2 SATs Reading

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Compare and contrast: how are they alike and different?.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Choose the best summary of a short text

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: A short text or extract (one copy each), Highlighters, Question cards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 5 min

  • 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. Octopuses are clever problem-solvers. In aquariums they have unscrewed jar lids to reach food and escaped from their tanks. Scientists think their large brains and flexible arms help them explore and learn. Which is the best summary? (Octopuses are smart animals that can solve problems, helped by their large brains and flexible arms. / Octopuses live in aquariums. / One octopus opened a jar. / Octopuses are scary.) → Octopuses are smart animals that can solve problems, helped by their large brains and flexible arms.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? (The flat had no garden. / Everyone should swap recipes. / Amara grew strawberries. / Amara turns empty balcony boxes into a garden that brings her neighbours together.) → 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. 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. / Bees are the most amazing insects in the world. / Drones are male bees. / Worker bees collect nectar and pollen.) → 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.

Hook · 5 min

  • 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.

I do: model it · 10 min

  • 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.

We do: guided practice · 10 min

  • 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: 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 / the shape of their snouts / the colour of their eggs / where they sleep) → 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? (on the other hand / likewise / similarly / both) → on the other handPrompt: Try the word in a sentence: 'Cats purr; ___, dogs bark.'

You do: independent practice · 10 min

  • 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 5 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Text A: Bats are mammals that fly at night and use echoes to find insects. Text B: Dolphins are mammals that live in the sea and use echoes to find fish. How are bats and dolphins ALIKE? (Both live in the sea. / Both eat insects. / Both fly at night. / Both are mammals that use echoes to find food.) → Both are mammals that use echoes to find food.Prompt: Read both texts and note what each says about the same topic.
  2. Which signal word or phrase shows a SIMILARITY? (unlike / in the same way / whereas / on the other hand) → in the same wayPrompt: Try the word in a sentence: 'Cats purr; ___, dogs bark.'

Watch out for

  • Answering from memory or opinion instead of evidence in the text.
  • Copying a long quote without explaining what it shows.

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Choose the best summary of a short text.
  • Use concrete materials: a short text or extract (one copy each).
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

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

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

eurekami

Compare and contrast: how are they alike and different?

Name

Date

Score/ 8

Should Our School Keep Bees?

Letter A: Yes to bees! Our school should put two beehives on the flat roof above the library. Bees pollinate fruit, vegetables and wildflowers, and in many places their numbers have fallen. A school hive would give local bees a safe home. It would also turn our roof into a living science lesson: we could study how a colony works, measure how much honey it makes, and plant bee-friendly flowers in the playground. Several schools near us already keep bees, and the beekeepers say pupils are never near the hives, because the roof is locked. Letter B: Not so fast. I agree that bees are important, but I do not think hives are right for our school yet. Some pupils and staff are allergic to bee stings, and even a locked roof is close to open windows. Hives also need an expert to check them every week, and no one at school has that training. Instead, we could help bees in safer ways: plant a wildflower strip by the fence, build a bug hotel, and invite a beekeeper to visit with an observation hive behind glass. If, after a year, we find a trained volunteer, we could think about hives again.

  1. Question 1

    Read "Should Our School Keep Bees?". What do BOTH letters agree on?

    • A. Bees are dangerous and should be avoided.
    • B. The school should put hives on the roof now.
    • C. Bees are important and worth helping.
    • D. The library should move.

  1. Question 2

    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?

    • A. Bags should never be used.
    • B. Each kind of bag has good and bad points.
    • C. Paper bags are perfect.
    • D. Cotton bags are always bad.

  2. Question 3

    Which signal word or phrase shows a SIMILARITY?

    • A. likewise
    • B. however
    • C. unlike
    • D. on the other hand

Should Our School Keep Bees?

Letter A: Yes to bees! Our school should put two beehives on the flat roof above the library. Bees pollinate fruit, vegetables and wildflowers, and in many places their numbers have fallen. A school hive would give local bees a safe home. It would also turn our roof into a living science lesson: we could study how a colony works, measure how much honey it makes, and plant bee-friendly flowers in the playground. Several schools near us already keep bees, and the beekeepers say pupils are never near the hives, because the roof is locked. Letter B: Not so fast. I agree that bees are important, but I do not think hives are right for our school yet. Some pupils and staff are allergic to bee stings, and even a locked roof is close to open windows. Hives also need an expert to check them every week, and no one at school has that training. Instead, we could help bees in safer ways: plant a wildflower strip by the fence, build a bug hotel, and invite a beekeeper to visit with an observation hive behind glass. If, after a year, we find a trained volunteer, we could think about hives again.

  1. Question 4

    Read "Should Our School Keep Bees?". What is the main DIFFERENCE between the two letters?

    • A. Letter B wants more hives than Letter A.
    • B. Letter A wants hives now; Letter B prefers safer ways to help bees first.
    • C. Both letters want the same thing.
    • D. Letter A dislikes bees; Letter B loves them.

  1. Question 5

    Text A: Frogs have smooth, moist skin and long back legs for leaping. Text B: Toads have dry, bumpy skin and shorter legs for hopping and walking. How are frogs and toads DIFFERENT?

    • A. their skin and their legs
    • B. the number of toes
    • C. the food they eat
    • D. their eyes and ears

  2. Question 6

    Text A: Bats are mammals that fly at night and use echoes to find insects. Text B: Dolphins are mammals that live in the sea and use echoes to find fish. How are bats and dolphins ALIKE?

    • A. Both live in the sea.
    • B. Both are mammals that use echoes to find food.
    • C. Both eat insects.
    • D. Both fly at night.

  3. Question 7

    Which signal word or phrase shows a DIFFERENCE?

    • A. likewise
    • B. in the same way
    • C. on the other hand
    • D. similarly

  4. Question 8

    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?

    • A. Both gave up.
    • B. Both won a race.
    • C. Both worked hard and succeeded.
    • D. Both play the piano.

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Answer key: Compare and contrast: how are they alike and different?

  1. 1. C. Bees are important and worth helping.

  2. 2. B. Each kind of bag has good and bad points.

  3. 3. A. likewise

  4. 4. B. Letter A wants hives now; Letter B prefers safer ways to help bees first.

  5. 5. A. their skin and their legs

  6. 6. B. Both are mammals that use echoes to find food.

  7. 7. C. on the other hand

  8. 8. C. Both worked hard and succeeded.