Rationale
Process
Compare & Contrast Diagram
More Resources
YouTube Videos
Examples within the On the Job website

Rationale Teacher

Compare and Contrast helps teachers achieve five distinct instructional goals:

• Strengthen Student Memories - by focusing student thinking on analyzing pairs of ideas, the Compare & Contrast strategy strengthens students' ability to remember key content
    
• Develop Higher Order Thinking Skills - C & C acts as a practical and easy-to-use introduction to Higher Order Thinking [HOTS]
    
• Increase Student Comprehension - C & C improves comprehension by highlighting important details, making abstract ideas more concrete, and reducing confusion between related concepts (eg. meiosis versus mitosis)
    
• Enhance Students' Writing in the Content Areas - The C&C strategy strengthens students' writing skills by providing a simple structure that helps them organize information and develop their ideas with greater clarity and precision.
    
• Develop Students' Habits of Mind - In their years of research into the defining characteristics of intelligent behavior and thought, Art Costa and Bena Kallick (2008, 2009) have identified 16 “habits of mind.” By nourishing these habits in our students, we give them the tools they need to use their minds well, thus increasing their chance for future success. Using Compare & Contrast in the classroom will help students develop these habits of mind: thinking flexibly; thinking about thinking (metacognition); striving for accuracy; applying past knowledge to new situations; and thinking and communicating with clarity and precision. (Source: Harvey F. Silver)

Process

This activity is used as an introductory activity for the whole class or for groups.

Compare and Contrast Charts do just about what you'd expect them to with a name like that: they're useful for looking at two quantities and determining in what ways they are similar and in what ways they are different. The chart is pictured here is one way to approach this comparison. First, you look at the similarities. Then you consider the differences, making sure to indicate on what criteria you are drawing out the dissimilarities.

1. Establish the question or problem. This could entail the use of stimulus material.
2. State the criteria for evaluating the ideas – feasible, appropriate and specific.
   

More resources

Literacy Ideas - Teaching students to compare & contrast when reading	Compare & Contrast: A strategy for avoiding comparison pitfalls [PDF] Source: Thoughtful Classroom
Victorian Dept of Education & Training: Writing compare and contrast	NSW Education: Stage 5 Reading: Compare and Contrast
Quest: Social Media: improving science communication by the tools of science

YouTube: Compare and Contrast | Reading Strategies | EasyTeaching
https://youtu.be/QVyOeD2xg94?si=nH3h1TYMqCCCswU7

YouTube: How to Write a Compare and Contrast Essay
https://youtu.be/3jJJl4xcY44

YouTube: Past and Present | Technology Then and Now
https://youtu.be/DENG7Q7VRgo

Examples within On the Job website

Arachnologist	Spider Murder Methods: What the Duck! Secondary Lesson Strategy: Compare & Contrast
Architect	Responding to the Vernacular? Secondary Lesson Strategy: Compare & Contrast
Bed & Breakfast Operator	Compare & Contrast: Two Bed & Breakfast Accommodations   Primary Middle  Secondary Lesson Strategy: Compare & Contrast
Journalist	"The" Science Journalists or Communicators - Prof. Brian Cox, David Attenborough and Dr Karl Kruszelnicki - a comparision!  Middle  Secondary Lesson Strategy: Compare & Contrast
Wool Buyer	Compare & Contrast: Champion Wool Broker Articles Primary Middle  Secondary Lesson Strategy: Compare & Contrast

Materials sourced from
A-Z Strategies [p.25]