Strategy Eight: Identifying Similarities and Differences Powerful strategy that leads students to higher levels of thinking and conceptual understanding. Identifying similarities and differences helps us to make sense of the world around us. It leads us to ask important questions like: Why is this like that?

Strategy Eight: Identifying Similarities and Differences Comparing and Contrasting = Analyzing how things are alike or different. Classifying = Organizing things into groups Creating Metaphors = Identifying the same general pattern in two different topics Creating Analogies = Identifying the relationships between pairs of concepts. 4 Sub-Strategies: *Must be preceded by teacher modeling with tools such as sentence starters and graphic organizers. *Most powerful when connected to student background knowledge!

Strategy Eight: Identifying Similarities and Differences When teaching these sub strategies, it’s important to create a process or “rule” to follow and then model that process. EXAMPLE: COMPARING AND CONTRASTING 1. Select Items to Compare Two systems of government: democracy and oligarchy 2. Identify basis of comparison Which group has the most political power in each system? 3. Explain how two things are similar or different. Students respond via discussion, writing, etc…

Strategy Eight: Identifying Similarities and Differences EXAMPLE: CLASSIFYING 1. Identify the items you want to classify. Polygon 2. Select an item, identify key attributes, then identify other items with those same attributes Polygons with 4 sides (rectangles, squares, parallelograms, trapezoids) 3. Create a category based on an attribute that items must have for membership 4. Combine categories or split into smaller categories. Quadrilaterals Shapes with 4 sides that contain 4 right angles

Strategy Eight: Identifying Similarities and Differences Metaphors and Analogies are difficult because they require higher levels of thinking but teachers can still model a process. Metaphors help us understand how two items are similar on an abstract level. Teach students a process like this: 1. Identify the most basic or important elements of a situation Cell Organelles have different jobs Nucleus controls all activity Ribosomes build proteins Endoplasmic reticulum = where ribosomes work 2. Write basic information as a general pattern by replacing words for specific things with words for more general things Cell Organelles (parts) have different jobs(things) Nucleus controls all activity Ribosomes(workers) build proteins Endoplasmic Reticulum(workspace) = where ribosomes work 3. Find a different situation to which the same pattern applies A cell is like a factory. The nucleus is the CEO. The ribosomes are the workers and the endoplasmic reticulum is the assembly line.

Strategy Eight: Identifying Similarities and Differences Analogies: Show relationships between relationships. At least one “pair” of relationships in the analogy must be familiar to students. Steps: 1.Identify how the two items in the 1 st pair of things are related. Parentheses and Order of Operations: “Parentheses is the first thing I do when I’m using the order of operations.” 2. State the relationship. Solving what's inside parentheses is the first step in the order of operations. 3. Identify another pair of things that has a similar relationship Turning key in ignition and driving. Turning the key in the ignition is the first thing I do to start driving just like… Tips: Provide a complete analogy and ask students to explain the relationships. Present an analogy that’s missing an item, and ask students to supply it.

Strategy Eight: Identifying Similarities and Differences Important Things to Remember: Make sure to select the strategy that fits the learning experience. Model strategy prior to practice Strategies are not ends in themselves Metaphors and Analogies: 1.Understand abstract ideas 2.Make connections between new and prior knowledge.