Comparing & Contrasting Two Characters Using Picture Books

By October, my students are getting much better at identifying character traits, so it’s a great time to take that one step further: comparing and contrasting two characters.  One of my favorite picture books for modeling how to do this is The Pain and the Great One by Judy Blume:

If you’re not familiar, it’s a funny look at sibling rivalry as an eight-year-old girl, “The Great One,” and her six-year-old brother, “The Pain,” state their cases about each other and who is best loved by their parents.  Your students with siblings are sure to make connections along the way!

Now, back to the task at hand…

I love a good Venn diagram, don’t get me wrong.  But sometimes you want your students to draw their own and they end up looking like one of these, am I right?

Don’t worry – there is another option.

I love to teach my students about a graphic organizer called a Box & T-Chart.  I find that not only does it tackle the same skill, but it’s a bit easier for the students to manage:

Another great book I use for modeling this skill is I am the Dog, I am the Cat by Donald Hall.  In this book, a dog and a cat take turns explaining what is wonderful about being who they are.

If you’re ready to work on comparing and contrasting, you should grab these FREE graphic organizers from my TpT store.

If you don’t have a copy of these books in your classroom or school library, you can find them on Amazon.

For even more books to use when teaching students to compare and contrast, be sure to check out this post:

If you want to read more about books I use to teach character traits, check out these posts:

Happy Reading!