Compare and contrast strategies
What does compare and contrast do for our students?
Strengthen Students' Memories
By focusing student thinking on analyzing pairs of ideas, the Compare & Contrast strategy strengthens students' ability to remember key content.
Develop Higher-Order Thinking Skills
Compare & Contrast acts as a practical and easy-to-use introduction to higher-order thinking.
Increase Student Comprehension
Compare & Contrast improves comprehension by highlighting important details, making abstract ideas more concrete, and reducing the confusion between related concepts
Enhance Students' Writing in the Content Areas
The Compare & Contrast strategy strengthens students' writing skills by providing a simple structure that helps them organize information and develop their ideas with greater clarity and precision.
Develop Students' Habits of Mind
In their years of research into the defining characteristics of intelligent behavior and thought, Art Costa and Bena Kallick (2008, 2009) have identified 16 “habits of mind.” By nourishing these habits in our students, we give them the tools they need to use their minds well, thus increasing their chance for future success. Using Compare & Contrast in the classroom will help students develop these habits of mind: thinking flexibly; thinking about thinking (metacognition); striving for accuracy; applying past knowledge to new situations; and thinking and communicating with clarity and precision.
Strengthen Students' Memories
By focusing student thinking on analyzing pairs of ideas, the Compare & Contrast strategy strengthens students' ability to remember key content.
Develop Higher-Order Thinking Skills
Compare & Contrast acts as a practical and easy-to-use introduction to higher-order thinking.
Increase Student Comprehension
Compare & Contrast improves comprehension by highlighting important details, making abstract ideas more concrete, and reducing the confusion between related concepts
Enhance Students' Writing in the Content Areas
The Compare & Contrast strategy strengthens students' writing skills by providing a simple structure that helps them organize information and develop their ideas with greater clarity and precision.
Develop Students' Habits of Mind
In their years of research into the defining characteristics of intelligent behavior and thought, Art Costa and Bena Kallick (2008, 2009) have identified 16 “habits of mind.” By nourishing these habits in our students, we give them the tools they need to use their minds well, thus increasing their chance for future success. Using Compare & Contrast in the classroom will help students develop these habits of mind: thinking flexibly; thinking about thinking (metacognition); striving for accuracy; applying past knowledge to new situations; and thinking and communicating with clarity and precision.