Comprehension Skill: COMPARE and CONTRAST
Whenever I model a new skill, I like to connect it to something the children know quite well. The tale of Little Red Riding Hood is known by most youngsters. Before reading Lon Po Po by Ed Young, I have the children briefly retell the main events of what happens in Little Red Riding Hood. With that in mind, I ask the children to look for ways today’s story is similar as well as how it is different.
For the first reading, we read the story all the way through. During the second read, we stop and identify the differences. This is a good time to record the children’s ideas on chart paper or on a graphic organizer. Finally, we identify similarities between the two versions of the tale.
Here are some more variations of popular fairy tales that can be used for additional practice of comparing and contrasting.
A Cinderella story from Mexico was retold by Tomie dePaola titled Adelita.
Jon Scieszka retells the story of The Three Little Pigs through the wolf’s point of view. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs! is a favorite of ours.
This version of The Boy Who Cried Wolf has the main character a young wolf who is craving a boy for dinner. It is another enjoyable tale that makes learning how to compare and contrast interesting and memorable.
