Compare and Contrast Rubric DRAFT
Organization

Kindergarten
Because the work at this level 
relies so heavily on teacher
prompting, the student may
name isolated similarities and
differences without a
particular sense of order.
Grade 1
When the student compares 
and contrasts, he or she may
name similarities and
differences in a seemingly
random order, almost as
they pop into his or her
head. Although the student
may be able to name
multiple similarities and
differences with teacher
support, he or she may not
be able to organize those
points to create some kind
of meaning.
Grade 2
When the student
compares and contrasts
with teacher prompting,
he or she may give a point
by point delivery of the
similarities and
differences he or she has
found in the text. The
student may appear to be
simply telling what the
similarities and
differences are rather than
ordering them and
organizing them to create
some kind of overarching
meaning.
Compare and Contrast Rubric DRAFT
Accountability



When asked to compare two
sections from a given text, the
reader may, with teacher
prompting, describe a
connection that draws upon
prior knowledge rather than
specific information stated in
the text, if he or she is able to
name a connection at all.
Alternately the reader may
name an isolated fact from
one part of the text without
connecting it to another part
of the text.
When asked to compare and
contrast two texts, the reader
may, with teacher prompting,
state a superficial or vague
similarity or difference that
could be applied to any text,
or the reader may name an
isolated fact or main topic
from one text without
comparing or contrasting it to
the other text.
At this level, the details the
student compares and
contrasts will most likely
come from the illustrations,



When asked to compare two 
sections from a given text,
the reader may (with
teacher prompting)
describe a connection that
relates to a subsection of the
text, rather than a
connection related to the
main topics. He or she may
refer to a fact or small part
that is the same across both
parts of the text, while also
including irrelevant facts

unrelated to the connection.
When asked to compare and
contrast two texts, the
reader may (with teacher
prompting) identify a broad
similarity and/or difference 
between the main topics of
two texts. Or, he or she may
identify a similarity and/or
a difference about isolated
facts between two texts.
At this level, the details the
student compares and
contrasts will most likely
come from the illustrations
(and labels in a nonfiction
When asked to compare
two sections from a given
text, the reader may
synthesize the main topic
from one part of the text
to another, and describe
how the two parts are the
same. With teacher
prompting, he or she may
name specific facts from
the text to support the
connection.
When asked to compare
and contrast two texts, the
reader identifies at least
one similarity and
difference about the main
topic between two texts.
At this level, the student
will begin to rely more
evenly on both the
illustrations and the body
of the text. Because of the
simplicity of gradeappropriate texts at this
level, the student is more
likely to compare and
contrast concrete physical
traits and simple character
Compare and Contrast Rubric DRAFT
not the body, of a text.
Because of the simplicity of
grade-appropriate texts at
this level, the student is more
likely to compare and
contrast concrete physical
traits (i.e. This ball is blue,
this ball is green, they are
both round) when supported
by a teacher.
text), not the body, of a text.
Because of the simplicity of
grade-appropriate texts at
this level, the student is
more likely to compare and
contrast concrete physical
traits and simple character
traits with support from a
teacher (i.e. This character
has brown hair, this
character has red hair, they
are both nice). The student’s
ability to compare and
contrast will rely largely on
his or her ability to make
inferences and connections
in text, and on the
sophistication of vocabulary
he or she has for describing
characteristics.
traits with support from a
teacher. The student’s
ability to compare and
contrast will rely largely
on his or her ability to
make inferences and
connections in text, and on
the sophistication of
vocabulary he or she has
for describing
characteristics—this
means that although the
student may compare and
contrast similar details as
he or she did in first grade,
he will be able to do so
with more depth and
precision.
Compare and Contrast Rubric DRAFT
Domain-Specific
Language

With prompting and support,
the student gestures toward
using compare and contrast
vocabulary such as same,
different, like, and unlike,
although he or she may
sometimes use the terms
incorrectly.

With prompting and
support, the student
correctly uses compare and
contrast vocabulary such as
same, different, like, and
unlike to support discussion
of similarities and
differences.

The student correctly uses
compare and contrast
vocabulary to support
discussion of similarities
and differences. He or she
may use words like:
o Similar
o Different
o And
o But
o Also
o Both
o Because