One skill my students seem to struggle with across grade levels is comparing and contrasting texts. In honor of Presidents' Day, I use the following compare and contrast activity using George Washington and Abraham Lincoln texts to give my students extra practice. Plus, download my free Presidents' Day worksheets so you can use this comparing and contrasting texts activity in your classroom!
Begin this Presidents' Day activity by reviewing with your students that when you compare and contrast two things you are looking at their similarities and differences. Using a Venn diagram or T-chart can help organize thoughts when looking for similarities and differences in a text.
Explain to your students they will be comparing and contrasting texts about two great presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They will read articles about both presidents, and using the information that they learned from these articles, compare and contrast these two great men. Finally, they will write about their similarities and differences to show they successfully compared and contrasted the two texts.
Give your students short nonfiction texts on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. As they read each article, have students underline, highlight, and/or take notes on the most important information. Two possible texts you can use are:
Next, have your students organize the information they thought was most important from both texts using the Venn diagram or T-chart provided in my Presidents' Day Worksheets bundle.
Finally, have your students use their notes to write an informational piece on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln citing their similarities and differences as great men in our country’s history.
Download my free Presidents' Day Worksheets to assist you in your own compare and contrast activity!