Comparing and Contrasting Literature
Using Venn Diagrams

Designed by: Emily Hammett,  Meadowfield Elementary

1) Core Curriculum Objective(s):  Categorize information using strategies such as story mapping, webbing, and Venn Diagrams.
(1-CM18)   PACT: I.H

Grade Level:  1    Subject: Reading

2) Overview: The teacher will read the two fairytale/folktales Cinderella and Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe, and the students will listen and look for similarities and differences between the two stories. The teacher and students will categorize these similarities and differences by using a Venn Diagram.  For an assessment, the teacher will read The Three Little Pigs by Paul Galdone and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka, and small groups will discuss the similarities and differences in these stories and then identify where the similarities and differences should be placed in a class Venn Diagram.

3) Purpose/Essential Questions:  How can we use two circles to show how things are alike and how they are different?

4) Time Frame: Two 45-min. lessons.

5) Resources:

1 set of magnetic attribute-blocks (CSMP)

Cinderella

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe

The Three Little Pigs by Paul Galdone

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

1 large piece of butcher paper with a pre-drawn large Venn Diagram for each group

1 pack of crayons for each student

2 additional sheets of paper for each group  

6) ASSESSMENT:

1 point for each similarity statement (using words and/or pictures) placed in the correct region of the Venn Diagram X 4 = 4

1 point for each statement (using words and/or pictures) unique to the story The Three Little Pigs placed in the correct region of the Venn Diagram X 2 = 2

1 point for each statement (using words and/or pictures) unique to the  story The True Story of the Three Little Pigs placed in the correct region of the Venn Diagram X 2 = 2

= A total of 8 possible points

So that

      7/8 to 8/8 points        = +

      6/8 points                  =  ?

      5/8 and below points = -

7) INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Day 1 - 45 min.

1. The teacher will review with the class the concept of Venn Diagrams through a short math Venn Diagram activity.  The teacher will draw one circle of the Venn diagram red and the other circle blue.  He/She will label the red circle "squares" and the blue circle "yellow".  The teacher will place one set of magnetic attribute blocks on the board and then call on students to choose one of the shapes from the board to place in either the "squares" circle, the "yellow" circle, the "yellow squares" region, or outside the entire diagram (neither "yellow", "squares", nor "yellow squares".  During this short review activity, the teacher will remind students that the objects in the red circle are different from the objects in the blue circle and that the region where the two circles intersect shows what similarities the objects in the red and blue circles share.

2. Then, the teacher will tell the students that they will learn how to use Venn diagrams in a different way after listening to two stories and identifying the similarities and differences between the two stories.

3. The teacher will instruct the children to listen very carefully to the two stories that he/she will read and to think about how the stories are the same, how they are different, and how the students could put this information into a Venn diagram.

4. First, the teacher will read aloud to the class the traditional fairytale Cinderella.

5. Then, the teacher will remind students that he/she will read another story that will have similarities and differences to Cinderella and that they need to be "detectives", and see if they can use their "detective thinking caps" to solve the "mystery" of how the two stories are alike and how they are different.

6. Then, the teacher will read the tale Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe.

7. After reading both books, the teacher will space out the two books on the chalk ledge of the board, draw a Venn Diagram with one big red circle (above one of the books on the chalk ledge) intersecting one big blue circle (above the other book on the chalk ledge) on a large piece of butcher or chart paper and attach it to the board, and then ask the students what label the class should give for the red circle and the blue circle (the titles of the two books).

8. After labeling the red circle with one title and labeling the blue circle with the other title, the teacher will ask the students what kind of information would belong in the red and blue circles (information about each story that would reflect a difference) and what kind of information would belong in the area where the red and blue circles intersect (similarities shared by the two stories).

9. Once the students understand what type of information belongs in each of the three regions of the Venn Diagram, then the teacher will facilitate a class discussion by asking the students to report any similarities and/or differences that they noticed between the two stories and also to indicate in which area of the Venn Diagram the similarity and or difference belongs.

10.  As the students indicate where the similarities and differences belong in the Venn Diagram, the teacher will write their responses in the proper area of the Venn Diagram.

11. Then, the teacher will ask the students what they learned about Venn Diagrams from their class activity, and he/she will instruct the students that they will be given a Venn Diagram assignment for a grade the next day.

Day 2 - 45 minutes

1. To review the concept of categorizing information using Venn   Diagrams, the teacher will show the class the Venn Diagram from the previous day, and he/she will ask the students how they determined what information belonged in each region of the diagram. 

2. Then, the teacher will tell the students that he/she will read two different stories and that the students need to listen very carefully in order to "search" for similarities and differences between the two stories and to determine where this information would be placed in a Venn Diagram. 

3. The teacher will read aloud the two stories The Three Little Pigs by Paul Galdone and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka.

4. The teacher will divide the students into groups of twos and explain that each group needs to discuss the similarities and differences between these two stories and that they will be given a large Venn Diagram on butcher paper on which they need to categorize the similarities and differences in the correct regions of the Venn Diagram.  As the children categorize the information, they may use words and/or pictures.  The children should have at least 2 statements and/or pictures in The Three Little Pigs circle that are unique to that story, and they should have at least 2 statements and/or pictures in The True Story of the Three Little Pigs circle that are unique to that story.  Also, the children should have at least 4 similarities (4 statements and/or pictures in the region where the two circles intersect) - see rubric under Assessment.

5. The teacher will explain that once all groups have completed their work, each group will present its Venn Diagram and explain how they categorized the similarities and differences.

6. If any groups finish early, the teacher will pose the following question:  How would you construct a Venn Diagram if you had 3 stories?  Four stories?  Five stories?  The students should then draw their ideas on a separate piece of paper.

7.  While the groups present their Venn Diagrams, the teacher will use the rubric to assess their oral explanations (see Assessment).

8. The teacher will also record all of the groups' ideas onto a large Venn Diagram on a piece of chart paper as the groups present in order to create another class Venn Diagram.

9. Once all groups have shared their diagrams, the teacher will ask the students what they learned about Venn Diagrams and how Venn Diagrams can help them when they read two different books.

10. All of the groups' Venn Diagrams as well as the 2 class Venn Diagrams will be posted in the room or in the hallways of the school. Also, all works could be scanned onto the school's website.