The Art of Comparing and Contrasting

Comparing and contrasting has moved far past the Venn diagram in the digital classroom. Authentic compare and contrast skills are important not only in the academic classroom, but will serve students well as life-long skills. The better they are in this art, the more they will thrive not only on assessment tests but in real-world choices. This standard is addressed at every grade level curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade.

One way to really engage students in compare and contrast is to use current song lyrics that students can identify with. Love vs. Broken Heart, Terrorism vs. Peace in Nature, Optimism vs. Despair are three classroom products that work well for me in tenth grade English.

Poetry terms become more interesting when students are trying to figure out how Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, or Kate Perry have used them in their song lyrics. Students can record examples of the metaphors, alliteration, or figurative language in their interactive notebooks and will remember the terms when they are singing along with their i-phones.
                                              
Poetry has gotten a bad rap among teenagers for too many years, but when tweens or teens compare song lyrics with poetry and see the similarities they may decide that poetry is more interesting than they originally thought. Gasp! Maybe they will even find they like it?

Using consistency while teaching techniques will also allow students to become very familiar with how to compare and contrast. In these units,
students follow the same format and the more
they practice the skills, the better they become.

They learn the poetry terms which help them
identify words to compare and contrast between
the two selections. They complete worksheets
that ask them specific questions about the
song lyrics and the poetry.

They answer an eight question quiz which fits the specific content of the song lyrics and poem and which will prepare them for doing so on upcoming state assessment tests.

After the students have compared and contrasted the song lyrics and poetry lines, they make a choice about how they will show the knowledge they have gained to the class. They submit a presentation paragraph explaining how a slideshow, a video, or a traditional essay will best meet the needs of how the student wants to communicate.

This is a simple way for me to differentiate
and to provide for the students' individual
learning skills while teaching the tech tools'
applications to learning. Traditional essays
are usually submitted, not presented.
Slideshows benefit oral presentations.
Videos allow students to use their oral
presentation skills as well as show off
their technical savvy.  I teach in "chunks"
and the variety of student products adds
to the engagement of the students.

Dr. Robert Marzano's research in “The Art and Science of Teaching” (2007) found that asking students to identify similarities and differences through comparative analysis improves student achievement. Teaching your class the art of comparing and contrasting will help prepare them for important decisions they make in their future. Better yet, they will have fun while they are engaged in learning.