How Do You Teach A Compare & Contrast Writing Lesson?
Compare and contrast essays are commonly assigned in high school English and first-year college writing classes. It can be challenging to help students understand the ultimate truth of the old saying “you can’t compare apples and oranges.” Providing specific guidelines for comparing and contrasting and how to put it all into an essay will greatly help you teach this important lesson to your students. Explain the importance of a basis for comparison. Students often do not understand this. Make them understand that you cannot compare two completely different things. There must be at least one similarity to build upon. Show students how to branch off from the one similarity, or basis for comparison. Teach students to make lists of similarities and differences—what to compare and contrast. Outlines also work well in doing this. Students should keep the basis for comparison in mind at all times. Do classroom activities to help students think and understand how to gather and analyze informat
