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5th Grade · Reading · RL.5.3, RI.5.2, RL.5.5

Compare and Contrast Lesson Plan for 5th Grade

A ready-to-teach compare and contrast lesson for 5th Grade, built around comparing characters, settings and events with text details, comparing two stories on one theme and two accounts of the same event, plus main idea, sequencing, inference, context clue, cause and effect, fact and opinion, prediction and figurative language practice. Print the plan, print the practice pages, and you are set.

Approximately 47 minutes

Learning objective

  • Compare two subjects using a Venn diagram or T-chart organizer
  • Identify specific similarities and differences using text evidence
  • Write comparison statements using transition words like however and both

Materials

Lesson steps

  1. 1. Build the background (5 min)

    Connect compare and contrast to a book the class already finished. Prior knowledge is doing most of the work in comprehension, so spend the time here.

  2. 2. Read aloud and think aloud (I do) (10 min)

    Read a short passage aloud and stop twice to narrate your own thinking about compare and contrast. Students are learning the move, not the answer.

  3. 3. Guided practice (we do) (12 min)

    Read a second passage together. This time students find the evidence and you record it. Push every answer back to the text with "what words told you that?"

  4. 4. Independent practice (you do) (15 min)

    Hand out "Compare Two Characters in a Story About Rival Twins". Students read and answer on their own. Circulate and ask individuals to point to the line in the text that supports their answer.

  5. 5. Share and close (5 min)

    Two or three students share an answer and the evidence behind it. Restate compare and contrast one final time in the students' own words, not yours.

Check for understanding

Ask each student to point to the evidence in the text for one of their answers. A student who has the right answer but cannot find the line has not yet learned compare and contrast.

Differentiation

Extra support. Students who stall: pull them into a small group and rebuild compare and contrast with concrete materials or a simpler text before asking for the written work again. Do not send the page home as homework, it will just rehearse the misunderstanding.

Extension. Students who finish early: ask them to write their own compare and contrast problem for a partner to solve, then check the partner's work. Creating a problem is harder than solving one and it surfaces whether they really understand compare and contrast.

Skills covered in this lesson

Compare and contrast · Main ideas, details & summary · Sequencing · Story elements · Conclusions & inferences · Context clues · Cause and effect worksheets · Fact vs opinion · Prediction worksheets · Figurative language · Personification worksheets

Practice pages for this lesson

6 items, 12 printable pages that match the independent-practice step.

Questions teachers ask about teaching compare and contrast

How many 5th Grade compare and contrast worksheets are there?
6 printable worksheets, all free to preview. Downloads are included with a ClassWeekly free trial, and every page prints on standard 8.5 x 11 paper.
What age are compare and contrast worksheets for?
These are written for 5th Grade students. Use the free preview to judge the fit for a particular child, since the same sheet often works a grade either side.
Are these compare and contrast worksheets aligned to Common Core?
Yes. Each one shows the Common Core code it covers on its own page, so you can check the alignment yourself rather than taking our word for it.
Can I use these compare and contrast worksheets for homeschool?
Yes. Nothing here assumes a classroom of 25, so they work the same one-to-one at the kitchen table as they do in a 5th Grade classroom, a learning center, or a tutoring session.

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