SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES Identifying Similarities and Differences Helps

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Identifying Similarities and Differences • Helps restructure understanding of the content • Make new connections • Experience fresh insights • Correct Misconceptions • Leads to Deeper understanding

Generalizations to Recommendations enhance understanding and ability to use 1. Teach students to use knowledge comparing, classifying, metaphors, and analogies 1. Presenting Explicit 2. Give students model Guidance 3. Use familiar context for 2. Asking to Identify model 3. Represent in graphic or 4. Use graphics organizers symbolic form as a visual tool Can be done in many ways 5. Guide: Gradually give less and is a robust activity! guidance/structure

Steps/Questions for Comparing Steps Questions Select Items you want to compare What do I want to compare? Select characteristics of the items on which to base comparison What things about them do I want to compare? Explain how items are similar/different with respect to chosen characteristics How are they the same? How are they different?

Classifying 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Steps Identify Item Important, attributes, items w/ same attributes Create category by specifying attributes Select another item Repeat 2/3 for new category Repeat 4/5 until all items are classified Combine / Split categories as necessary Questions 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 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 Questions 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. 1. What is the connection between the first two things? 2. State relationship in a general way. 2. How can I describe this connection? 3. Identify another pair of elements that share a similar relationship. 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. k 12. mo. us/graphic_orga nizers. htm#Online_Interactive www. Mindomo. com www. Gliffy. com http: //my. hrw. com/nsmedia/intgos/html/igo. htm www. swivel. com