My favorite ways to work on compare & contrast!

One big goal in my speech room is comparing and contrasting.  It can be tricky to target this goal with older students or to teach students to transfer this goal into the needs of the academic classrooms.  We often teach our kids to compare/contrast objects like apples and bananas but the teachers are asking them to compare characters, settings, or even two stories.

After students master comparing/contrasting apples and bananas, it is important for them to recognize comprehension questions which are requiring them to compare/contrast.  It is all about the vocabulary!  So, let's take the text out of the stimuli and focus on the questions and the wording of the answers.  I use my compare/contrast pictures activity!  Below you can see my visual aid, with my task cards, and my Crocodile Dentist game as a reinforcer.

I used this activity to practice the lingo!  My students had to use the terminology in order to get a turn in the game!  OK, so once they get using pictures to compare/contrast it is time to use vocabulary concepts.  I use my compare and contrast for older students.  Once that is mastered, we move onto the story level!  I use my Compare and Contrast Stories activity!  My students use the Venn Diagram and must use the terminology to answer the comprehension questions.

To check for understanding and to see if my students are ready to carryover this skill into their academic classrooms, I use my version of an exit slip.  I have a chart paper attached to my door with a question.  Students must take a marker and respond with a terminology we have discussed related to that skill before they can open my door and leave my therapy room!

I have provided these exit slip questions in my TpT store which you can access by clicking HERE!