Teach Compare and Contrast

Using Cinderella Stories to Teach Primary Students

Dec 5, 2008

Using literature to teach students how to compare and contrast can be a fun class activity.

Search on Amazon for Cinderella stories and you will find a dozen or more unique yet similar Cinderella books. Obtaining a small collection of these stories will provide you the tools necessary to teach four and five year olds how to compare and contrast.

Compare Cinderella Stories

Start by asking your students to tell you the story of Cinderella. As long as you get the basics of the story, you do not need to read the original. Explain that you are going to read several Cinderella stories, and students are going to find out what parts are the same. Make a chart with the key components of the stories as you read them. The basic components of the stories should include:

Discuss how these stories are all similar because they all have the same basic elements. These simple parts of the story are what make the story a Cinderella story.

Now that the class has agreed upon what is essential to a Cinderella story, discuss how each story is different. Fill in each story detail under the appropriate category. Spend some time discussing how even though each story has the same basic ideas of a Cinderella story, they all are very different from each other. Make a list of differences that the students notice. These differences will include setting, type of dress, who is the evil step-mother, who is the fairy god-mother, and so on.

Write Your Own Cinderella Story

Now explain to the children that they are going to write their own Cinderella story. Review what parts of the story they have to have, and then pass out the booklets for the students. These booklets should be made before-hand, and include the number of pages needed for the students to dedicate one page to each aspect of the Cinderella story. You can do this by folding plain white paper and stapling it together.

The students need to label the top of each page with the part of the story. Have them copy off of the chart you made with them earlier. This is excellent practice for the students learning to write their letters. Once each page is labeled, the children are free to draw a picture to illustrate their own unique Cinderella story.

Encouraging the children to "write their own book" will elicit excitement over a familiar story. In the process the students are practicing their letters and learning how to compare and contrast similar stories. The act of coloring is helpful practice for the children to improve their fine motor skills, as well.

The copyright of the article Teach Compare and Contrast in Primary School Lesson Plans is owned by Jennifer Wagaman. Permission to republish Teach Compare and Contrast in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.