📖 ReadingLevel 1Lesson 31
← Back🔒 PDF with full access

Comparing Two Stories

Lesson preview: the Mini Lesson and Vocabulary are open to everyone. Guided practice, exercises, the parent checklist and the printable PDF worksheet come with full access (free 7-day trial or membership).

Learning Objectives

  • 1Compare two stories using a Venn diagram — find similarities and differences and identify
  • 2Compare characters, settings, problems, and lessons across two stories
  • 3Use comparison sentence starters to share similarities and differences in discussion
📘

Mini Lesson

Comparing two stories means looking at them side by side and asking: "What is the same? What is different?" This is one of the most powerful thinking skills you can develop as a reader — it deepens your understanding of both stories at once.

What to compare — the four elements

  • Characters — Who is the story about? Are the characters similar in personality or very different? Do they face problems bravely, or in different ways?
  • Setting — Where and when does each story take place? Are the settings similar (both in forests, both in the past) or completely different?
  • Problem — What challenge does each character face? Are the problems the same type (e.g. both about feeling lonely) or different?
  • Lesson (theme) — What does each story teach? Do both stories teach the same lesson, or different ones?

The Venn diagram tool

  • Draw two overlapping circles. Label one Story A and the other Story B.
  • In the left circle only — things that are true ONLY about Story A.
  • In the right circle only — things that are true ONLY about Story B.
  • In the overlapping middle — things that are true about BOTH stories.

Comparison sentence starters

  • Both stories… / Both characters… — for similarities
  • In Story A… but in Story B… — for differences
  • One way they are the same is… One way they are different is…
  • I think Story A is better/more interesting because…
Venn diagram for comparing two storiesTwo overlapping circles. The left circle is labeled Story A with forest setting and animal hero inside. The right circle is labeled Story B with city setting and human hero inside. The overlapping middle section says Both — brave character.Venn diagram — compare two storiesStory AOnly in AStory BOnly in Bforestsettinganimal herocitysettinghuman heroBothbraveanimals · lessonCompare: character · setting · problem · lesson
Story A on the left, Story B on the right, Both in the middle.
Two books side by side with a versus symbol between themA Story A book on the left showing a forest and an animal hero, a large VS circle in the middle, and a Story B book on the right showing a city and a human hero. Four labels along the bottom list the four elements to compare.Story A vs Story BStory Aforest · animalVSStory Bcity · humanCompare 4 elements:character · setting · problem · lesson
Book covers side by side — compare the characters, setting, problem, and lesson.
💡

Ask yourself: "What is the same? What is different? Which element surprised me most?"

Vocabulary
Compare
To look at two things side by side to find similarities and differencese.g. We compared the two stories to see what was the same.
Venn diagram
Two overlapping circles used to show what is the same and what is differente.g. The middle of the Venn diagram shows what both stories share.
Similarity
Something that is the same between two thingse.g. One similarity was that both heroes were brave.
Difference
Something that is not the same between two thingse.g. One difference was that Story A is set in a forest and Story B in a city.
Theme
The lesson or main idea that a story teachese.g. Both stories had the theme of never giving up.
Free · 7 days · No credit card

Unlock the full HSEA system for 7 days.

Add your first kid profile and your 7 days start: every lesson in every grade, saved progress for each child. Nothing to set up, no card required, nothing to cancel.

  • ✓ All 1,680 lessons, Grades 1–6, every subject
  • ✓ Profiles + saved progress for every kid
  • ✓ Printable lessons with answer key
Start your 7-day free trial →
Already convinced? See full membership plans →
← Lesson 30: Discussing the Story's EndingLesson 32: Acting Out a Story →