Compare and contrast is the text structure writers use to examine how two or more things are alike and how they are different. This structure places ideas side by side so readers can see relationships clearly and think more deeply about what those relationships mean.
Compare and contrast text shows up in lots of places, such as: in a history lesson that examines people or events, in a science text that explores plant and animal cells, in an opinion piece that’s weighing two options, and in a literary analysis comparing characters, themes, or settings. This structure is used anytime a writer wants readers to evaluate options, notice patterns, or understand distinctions.
Comparing and contrasting effectively requires not just listing facts, but evaluating information, which leads to becoming a more critical reader and writer.
Free Resources for Compare & Contrast Text Structure
Below you’ll find a collection of free compare & contrast text structure resources, including:
- Overviews that explain compare and contrast in plain language
- Worksheets and activities for identifying similarities, differences, and signal words
- Free passages and readers that clearly show the compare and contrast structure in action.
Use them to introduce the structure, reinforce it, or give learners more practice analyzing relationships and organizing similarities and differences clearly.
Compare & Contrast Online Lesson: Slideshow that outlines the steps to determining the text structure being used, and how to use a graphic organizer to write a brief summary of a text. Several online “task cards” (short informational paragraphs with questions) are provided with this lesson. The topics include:
- Comparison/Contrast of two events in WWII
- Comparison/Contrast of civil rights activists
- Comparison/Contrast of WWI and WWII
- Comparison/Contrast of FDR and Hoover
Mars – Scholastic News Article: Includes a lesson plan, video and worksheet
Comparison & Contrast Worksheets – Graphic organizers with an accompanying reader:
Ereading Worksheets has a free compare/contrast worksheet plus worksheets for other text structures.
Here are some books and graphic organizers for studying the Compare & Contrast text structure.
| Free Readers | Graphic Organizers | Books on Amazon (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) |
|---|---|---|
| Atacama Desert Birthdays Around the World | Comparison/Contrast Chart One Central Idea; Two Sources Compare/Contrast Characters One Central Topic; Three Sources | Cats vs. Dogs (National Geographic Kids): Head-to-head format that explicitly models compare/contrast Ultimate Reptile Rumble (Who Would Win?) Uses side-by-side animal facts to drive comparisons |
| Video: Hurricanes vs. Tornadoes |
For more free text structure resources, head to the main text structure post, which serves as the hub for this series.
