17. Helping Students Examine Similarities and Differences

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Define the Element

Examining similarities and differences assists students in identifying characteristics and understanding relationships between objects, people, places, or ideas. In the classroom, this strategy is recognizable in four forms: comparing, classifying, creating metaphors, and creating analogies.

Connections to Other Elements

Helping student examine similarities and differences cannot nor should occur in isolation. Examining similarities and differences allows students to deepen their understanding of critical content by using discrete cognitive processes such as comparing, classifying, creating metaphors and creating analogies. Since these are more cognitively complex activities, it is imperative that students work through the critical content by first engaging in the elements in Design Question 2, processing, elaborating, recording, and reflecting on new content.

How to ...

Use student-friendly definitions for the four cognitive processes of comparing, classifying, creating metaphors, and creating analogies.
Directly teach and model these four cognitive processes for students using a gradual release model.
Teach and model how to identify the tools students need to examine similarities and differences (identifying critical attributes, summarizing and generalizing).
Teach and model the recording and representing tools students need to examine similarities and differences as they pertain to critical content.
Continually remain focused on student mastery of critical content as this is the ultimate goal of examining similarities and differences.
Gradually release responsibility to students for managing their own thinking and learning about the similarities and differences in critical content.

Strategies for Implementing ...

Comparing using sentence stems, summarizers, and constructed responses.
Comparing using graphic organizers
Classifying using sorting, matching, and categorizing
Classifying using graphic organizers
Comparing by creating metaphors and similes
Comparing by creating analogies

Examining Similarities and Differences Hand Out.docx

Examples and Non-Examples

Venn diagram

Double Bubble Diagram

Modified

T-chart

Comparison Matrix

Classification Chart

Categorization Chart

Affinity Diagram

Dichotomous Key

Metaphor

Analogy

Simile

Stem Comparison

Sentence Stem Analogy

Visual Analogy

Student-generated Classification Pattern

Non-examples of this Element Include the following: teacher doing the thinking for the student, assignment is too complex, teacher fails to provide instruction and modeling of the strategy, teacher does not require students to make generalizations about the similarities and differences, teacher selects a learning target that is incompatible with the desired result of the technique, and/or students don't understand the learning enough to examine similarities and differences.

Elementary Examples Examining Similarities and Differences.docx

Secondary Examples for Examining Similarities and Differences.docx

Take the time to directly teach and model the strategy.
Facilitate students’ abilities to identify critical attributes specifically related to critical content.
Understand students’ background knowledge and working memory.
Don’t ask to compare too many things using too many comparison criteria.
Ask students to draw conclusions or make generalization after a lesson, which is the most important aspect of this strategy.

Scaffold Supports and Extension of Learning

Scaffolding Supports

Enlist help for students from their peers, instructional aides, or paraprofessionals.
Manipulate the difficulty level of content that you are teaching (for example, providing an easier reading level that contains the same content).
Break down the content into smaller chunks to make it more manageable.
Give students organizers to clarify and guide their thinking through a task one step at a time.

Extensions

Release responsibility to students for selecting the elements attributes of their content-related comparisons.
Give students more unusual comparisons to make within the content.
If using a Venn diagram, encourage students to construct a triple Venn diagram to make the task more complex.
Ask students to develop their own organizers for classifying content knowledge.
Ask students to classify critical content by adding more detailed categories and subcategories.
Provide differentiated analogies based on content for your students, having some challenging ones ready for students who show special aptitude.

Questions for Reflection

How can you begin to incorporate some aspect of this strategy in you instruction?
What are some ways you can encourage your students to become more independent in their examination of similarities and differences?
What are some ways you can check to see if most students are accurately identifying similarities and differences?
What are ways you can adapt and create new techniques for identifying similarities and differences that address unique student needs and situations?
What are you learning about your students as you adapt and create new techniques?

Additional Resources

2014_Element 17_Protocol.pdf

Comparison Strategies.pdf

Desired Effects 41 Elements(2).pdf

Element 17 Examining Similarities and Differences

Examining Similarities and Differences Hand Out.docx

Framework Foculs Element 17.pdf

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Strategies for Examining Similarities and Differences.pdf