SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

•Helps restructure understanding of the content

•Make new connections

•Experience fresh insights

•Correct Misconceptions

•Leads to Deeper understanding

Identifying Similarities and Differences

Generalizations to enhance understanding and ability to use knowledge

1. Presenting Explicit Guidance

2. Asking to Identify3. Represent in

graphic or symbolic form

Can be done in many ways and is a robust activity!

Recommendations

1. Teach students to use comparing, classifying, metaphors, and analogies

2. Give students model 3. Use familiar context

for model4. Use graphics

organizers as a visual tool

5. Guide: Gradually give less guidance/structure

Steps/Questions for ComparingSteps Questions

Select Items you want to compare

Select characteristics of the items on which to base comparison

Explain how items are similar/different with respect to chosen characteristics

What do I want to compare?

What things about them do I want to compare?

How are they the same? How are they different?

ClassifyingSteps Questions

1. Identify Item

2. Important, attributes, items w/ same attributes

3. Create category by specifying attributes

4. Select another item

5. Repeat 2/3 for new category

6. Repeat 4/5 until all items are classified

7. Combine / Split categories as necessary

1. What do I want to classify?

2. What things are alike that can be put into one group?

3. How are they alike?

4. What other groups can I make?

How are things in group alike?

6. Does everything fit into a group now?

7. Would it be better to split up or put together any groups?

Metaphors

Steps Questions

1. Identify important/basic elements of info/situation with which you are working

2. Write basic info as general pattern:

Replace specific with general

Summarize when possible

3. Find new info/situation to which pattern applies

1. What is important here?

2. How can I say the same thing in a more general way?

3. What else has the same general pattern?

Analogies

Steps Questions

1. Identify how the two elements in the first pair are related.

2. State relationship in a general way.

3. Identify another pair of elements that share a similar relationship.

1. What is the connection between the first two things?

2. How can I describe this connection?

3. Do the second two things have a connection like the first two?

Easy Graphic Organizers Word

Autoshapes – callouts and thought bubbles

Tables with fields for comparison Excel Spreadsheet

Charts Graphs Pictographs

Images Then & Now Here and There This & That

Graphic Organizers

http://its.leesummit.k12.mo.us/graphic_organizers.htm#Online_Interactive\

www.Mindomo.com www.Gliffy.com http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/intgos/ht

ml/igo.htm www.swivel.com