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How To: Use Comparing Strategies
DQ3: HELPING STUDENTS PRACTICE AND DEEPEN THEIR
UNDERSTANDING OF NEW KNOWLEDGE
Element 17
Examining Similarities and Differences
Comparing is the process of identifying similarities and differences between ideas or things. A variety of strategies can be used when designing comparison activities. We will discuss sentence stems, Venn diagrams, double bubble diagrams and comparison matrices.
Sentence Stem Comparisons
This strategy can be used to have the students compare and contrast people, characters, places, events, concepts or processes. The comparisons can be general or specific. Marzano’s Becoming a Reflective Teacher, gives the following examples:
General – House cats are similar to lions because ____________________. House cats are different than lions because _______________________.
Specific – Sherlock Holmes and Gandalf are both characters who enjoy solving mysteries, but they are different because ____________________________.
After a gym teacher has provided a series of critical-input experiences on baseball and fast pitch softball, he might assign a sentence stem assignment comparing and contrasting the two sports. A completed example can be found in Marzano’s A Handbook for the Art and Science of Teaching and looks something like this.
Baseball and fast pitch softball are similar because they both…
• Have 4 bases in a diamond shape
• Have 9 defensive players.
• Have the same ball/strike counts: 4 balls = walk & 3 strikes = out
Baseball and fast pitch softball are different because…
• In baseball, the bases are 90 feet apart, but in fast pitch softball the bases are 60 feet apart.
• In baseball, the pitching distance is 60 feet, 6 inches, but in fast pitch softball, the pitching distance is between 40 and 46 feet depending on the level of play.
• In baseball, the pitcher throws overhand, bit in fast pitch softball, the pitcher throws underhand.
Another sentence stem example
DQ3: HELPING STUDENTS PRACTICE AND DEEPEN THEIR
UNDERSTANDING OF NEW KNOWLEDGE
Element 17
Examining Similarities and Differences
Comparing is the process of identifying similarities and differences between ideas or things. A variety of strategies can be used when designing comparison activities. We will discuss sentence stems, Venn diagrams, double bubble diagrams and comparison matrices.
Sentence Stem Comparisons
This strategy can be used to have the students compare and contrast people, characters, places, events, concepts or processes. The comparisons can be general or specific. Marzano’s Becoming a Reflective Teacher, gives the following examples:
General – House cats are similar to lions because ____________________. House cats are different than lions because _______________________.
Specific – Sherlock Holmes and Gandalf are both characters who enjoy solving mysteries, but they are different because ____________________________.
After a gym teacher has provided a series of critical-input experiences on baseball and fast pitch softball, he might assign a sentence stem assignment comparing and contrasting the two sports. A completed example can be found in Marzano’s A Handbook for the Art and Science of Teaching and looks something like this.
Baseball and fast pitch softball are similar because they both…
• Have 4 bases in a diamond shape
• Have 9 defensive players.
• Have the same ball/strike counts: 4 balls = walk & 3 strikes = out
Baseball and fast pitch softball are different because…
• In baseball, the bases are 90 feet apart, but in fast pitch softball the bases are 60 feet apart.
• In baseball, the pitching distance is 60 feet, 6 inches, but in fast pitch softball, the pitching distance is between 40 and 46 feet depending on the level of play.
• In baseball, the pitcher throws overhand, bit in fast pitch softball, the pitcher throws underhand.
Another sentence stem example