Southern Nevada Regional
Professional Development
Program
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RPDP Secondary Literacy
Reading Strategies
Comparison and Contrast
Created by Jill M. Leone
Reading Specialist
Copyright © 2007
RPDP Secondary Literacy
We will discuss how to • apply comparison and contrast strategies
to show how ideas, people, things, and
events are both alike and different.
• recognize relationships between word
pairs in selected analogies.
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These strategies can be used for both
fiction and nonfiction.
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Can you guess what each of these
women have in common?
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You will have to
make a comparison.
Writers use this
strategy all the time to
show how things are
alike.
It is also used to show
how things are
different.
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Each one wants to look good.
We know this because –
• one is shopping.
• one is at a hair salon.
• one is putting on make-up.
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We can understand country music much
better if we think about how it’s similar to other types of music.
how it’s different from other types of music.
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We have already learned that • Writers are often very thoughtful
of their readers.
• They often leave behind clues
to help readers understand.
• They use these clue words
and phrases to show both
similarities and differences.
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also
identical
similar
resembling
same
as well as
like, likewise
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other, another
each
both
too
• Consuela suffered from acrophobia; her
father also had a fear of heights.
• Those two brothers really resemble
each other.
• The design of that vehicle is similar to
last year’s model.
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When you make
comparisons,
remember to also
think about how
ideas, things,
people, or events
are different.
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although
but
though
yet
however
while
on the contrary unlike
in contrast
opposite
on the other hand
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• When I left my house I had
$300, but when I got to my
favorite store I was broke.
• David really wanted to play
football this year. However,
he is ineligible because of
his low grades.
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• Julia wanted to go to
the gym, but she had to
study for a test.
• I planned to get a job
this summer. However,
I will need to attend
summer school to make
up two classes.
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More Clue Words to Help
You Understand Differences
more / less
-er words
Let’s look at
a few examples.
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Examples of Words Ending in -er
bigger than
smaller than
taller than
shorter than
faster than
slower than
easier than
harder than
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The world’s water supply is becoming
increasingly polluted. Fish and other living
creatures need clean water to stay alive. When
water becomes polluted, fewer fish are able to
survive. In addition, fewer fish are born in
polluted water than in clean water, which may
ultimately cause the world’s fish population
to dwindle and die out.
How does polluted water compare
to clean water?
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Practice Question
How does polluted water compare to
clean water?
A. More fish are born in polluted water.
A. More fish are born in clean water.
A. The same number of fish are born in
clean water as in polluted water.
D. No one knows if more or fewer
fish are born in polluted water.
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How did you do?
Practice Question
Americans are taller and healthier than ever.
Good medical care, good housing, and good
food are three important reasons for our
generally better health. It is also widely and
wrongly believed that we eat more. On the
contrary, we eat about one-half pound less
per day than we did at the beginning of the
century. It is not the amount that we eat, but
the better quality of our diet that keeps us
healthy.
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Practice Question
How do we differ from Americans who
lived at the beginning of the century?
A.We eat more but the quality is worse.
B.We eat less but the quality is better.
C.We eat the same amount but the
quality is better.
D.We eat the same amount but the
quality is worse.
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Practice Question
Americans are taller and healthier than ever.
Good medical care, good housing, and good
food are three important reasons for our
generally better health. It is also widely and
wrongly believed that we eat more. On the
contrary, we eat about one-half pound less
per day than we did at the beginning of the
century. It is not the amount that we eat, but
the better quality of our diet that keeps us
healthy.
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Sometimes your teachers
will identify the items you
must compare and the
characteristics on which
to base your comparison.
Other times, it will be up
to you to choose.
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• During or after reading
• During or after a lecture
• When writing an essay
• While studying for a test
• Making a decision
• Organizing your thoughts
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C
A
B
A and B = differences.
C = similarities A & B have in common.
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Venn diagrams are graphic organizers.
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To construct a Venn Diagram, just
draw 2 overlapping circles:
#1
#3
#2
Put things Put things Put things
that are
that are
both
special
special
have in
about #1 common about #2
here.
here.
here.
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You can use more than two circles to
compare more than two things:
If an item falls into all 3 categories, it goes in the middle of
the 3 circles (the part where they all overlap each other).
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Our world is changing.
We have so much new
Information,
electronic devices
and networks to help
us retrieve it, that we also
need to be good at
other kinds of thinking:
critical thinking.
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You must be good at noticing
and remembering the
characteristics of everything
around you.
Always make connections about
how things are both alike
and different.
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• When you ask your brain
to think about something, it
has to search among the
words, pictures, ideas, and
facts stored inside.
• It’s almost like looking for a
piece of paper somewhere
in your locker.
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• The more disorganized your
locker, the harder it is to find
what you’re looking for.
• The more organized the content
in your brain, the quicker and
more efficient you’ll be at
finding information.
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www.bvmschool.on.ca/courses/physical/PD_4_1_3.htm
Take a look at a
Venn Diagram that
compares two characters
from John Steinbeck’s
famous novel
Of Mice and Men:
George and Lennie.
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sinisefans.org/mice
George: Both:
Lennie:
small in size, migrant
enormous,
mature, workers,
childlike,
sharp, devoted to mentally slow,
quick, each other, awkward,
care taker, want what
helpless,
long-term they don’t simple dreams
dreams & goals have
& goals
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www.argo217.k12.il.us/departs/english/blettiere/mice_men.htm
The two main characters are so different,
yet share the same dreams and devotion to
each other.
You can construct a Venn Diagram for any
novel or short story you read.
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When you read
When you write
When you study for tests
When you think
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It’s a process which takes • planning
• gathering information
• organizing information
• prewriting
• writing a rough draft
• editing and revising
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Practice Question
By using yellow, red, and blue –
the primary colors - you can make
almost any color in the rainbow. You
can make purple by a combination of
red and blue. Likewise, orange can be
made by a mixture of red and yellow.
How are purple and orange similar?
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Practice Question
How are purple and orange similar?
A.They are both primary colors.
B.They are both made by combining
primary colors.
C.They are both a mixture of red and
yellow.
D.They are both a mixture of red and
blue.
How did you do?
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Practice Question
Tornados usually begin over land. On the
other hand, hurricanes almost never begin
like tornados.
Which statement is most likely?
A. Tornados and hurricanes begin over
land.
B. Tornados and hurricanes begin over
water.
C. Tornados begin over land,
hurricanes over water.
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Practice Question
Tornados usually begin over land. On the
other hand, hurricanes almost never begin
like tornados.
Which statement is most likely?
A. Tornados and hurricanes begin over
land.
B. Tornados and hurricanes begin over
water.
C. Tornados begin over land,
hurricanes over water.
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An analogy is a comparison of two things,
stressing their similarities.
• Morning is to night as beginning is to end.
• Old is to young as strong is to weak.
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Writers use analogies to help us • understand relationships
• connect ideas.
An analogy starts with a pair of words
that have a particular relationship to
each other.
The first pair of words is followed by a
second pair.
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Your job as a reader is to figure out the
relationship of the first pair of words.
Then, you apply the same relationship
to the second pair of words to
complete the analogy.
Huge : enormous as tiny : miniscule.
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Let’s use the word strong to complete
this analogy:
Old is to aged as strong is to
powerful.
Powerful also means strong.
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Here are more examples:
• Penny is to dime as dime is to dollar.
• Tree is to plant as truck is to vehicle.
• Book is to read as song is to listen.
• Leaf is to tree as petal is to flower.
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• We can understand that because a penny
is one tenth of a dime, a dime would be
one tenth of a dollar.
• A tree is a type of plant. Therefore, a
truck would be a type of vehicle.
Can you figure out the connections between
the last two examples?
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Practice Question
In the early years of basketball, height was
considered unimportant. A 6-foot-tall player
was considered to be quite tall, but no one
thought that his height made him a more
successful player. Today, however, a
6foot-tall player would be considered too
short for professional play.
Coaches now know that tall
players are more successful
in the modern game.
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Practice Question
How has the feeling about height changed?
A. Coaches used to think that height was
important. Now, they think it’s unimportant.
B. Coaches used to think that height was
important, and they still do.
C. Coaches used to think that height was
unimportant. Now, they think it’s important.
D. Coaches used to think that height
was unimportant, and they still do.
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Practice Question
The Mayans lived on the Yucatan Peninsula long
before the Europeans came to the Americas.
Writings and physical evidence left by the Mayans
have taught scholars a great deal about their
society. We know that were ruled by a class of
lords. The people they ruled paid a tribute in the
form of goods or services, and every
community had a market where food
and manufactured goods were traded.
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Practice Question
According to the passage, the tribute that
the Mayans paid to the lords is similar to –
A. a prize
B. a tax
C. a calendar
D. a bank account
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www.mayankids.com/mmkclipart/mkclipart1.htm
Practice Question
When television was first invented, people feared it
would mark an end to reading, that people would prefer
to sit in front of the TV rather than read newspapers or
books. Contrary to public opinion, people read more
today than before the invention of TV.
How much do people read now compared to before
the invention of television?
A. People read less than they used to.
B. People today read more than they used to.
C. People read about the same as they used to.
D. The selection does not help us answer this
question.
RPDP Secondary Literacy
Practice Question
When television was first invented, people feared it
would mark an end to reading, that people would prefer
to sit in front of the TV rather than read newspapers or
books. Contrary to public opinion, people read more
today than before the invention of TV.
How much do people read now compared to before
the invention of television?
A. People read less than they used to.
B. People today read more than they used to.
C. People read about the same as they used to.
D. The selection does not help us answer this
question.
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Today we discussed –
• Comparison
• Contrast
• Venn Diagrams
• Analogies
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Copyright Notice
Permission is granted to copy (unmodified) all or part
of this PowerPoint for educational, personal, noncommercial use off-line as long as the copyright
message (Copyright © 2007 by Jill Leone) is
maintained on the title page. This material may not
be sold, duplicated on other websites, incorporated
in commercial documents or products, or used for
promotional purposes.
Copyright © 2007 by Jill M. Leone
RPDP Secondary Literacy