Comparing and Contrasting Story Elements: Self-Paced Reading Lessons

Help your students compare and contrast story elements (characters and setting) with these self-paced reading lessons.

This self-paced reading resource includes FOUR lessons for practicing comparing and contrasting story elements (setting and characters).

Do you ever wish you could duplicate yourself so you could provide additional small-group reading instruction? Or have you ever wished that small-group reading lessons could be self-paced with all the parts of strong reading instruction?

These self-paced reading lessons provide additional review and instruction for your students, mimicking what they would get from small-group reading instruction.

Using these self-paced reading lessons as part of your reading instruction makes reviewing and practicing comparing and contrasting story elements easy (for you) and engaging (for your students). Just print the printable version or assign the digital version and your students will work through an engaging self-paced reading lesson with all of the important components of effective small group reading instruction.

Each self-paced reading lesson includes:

• Skill Review – Review of the skill focus (each lesson has one specific skill focus) with questions to guide students as they read the story (the questions are focused on the skill)
• Introduction to the Story – Introduction to the story with a specific reading focus tied into the skill
• Vocabulary – Vocabulary words with kid-friendly definitions and connections to the story and optional extension activities
• Engaging Text – A one-page length passage written at a 4th/5th grade reading level
• After-Reading Questions – Skill-focused questions to be answered after reading the text
• Extension - Optional discussion or writing prompts
• Answer Keys (optional discussion/writing prompts do not include answer keys as many are subjective)

Here are some ways to use the self-paced reading lessons:

• Skill practice after initial instruction
• Reading centers or stations
• Re-teaching
• Test prep
• Assessments
• Whole class/whole group reading lessons
• Virtual reading lessons

About the Digital Version

The digital version is ideal for an engaging self-paced reading center or station. It has been redesigned for optimal student use in Google Slides and contains the same content as the printable version.

There are two digital options: independent or whole class. The activities are altered, depending on your preference of use. Digital access can be found on pages 4-6 of the PDF.

Looking for more skills to practice? Check out the other self-paced lessons I have:

• Theme
• Making Inferences (Fiction)
• Point of View
• Paired Point of View
• Comparing and Contrasting Story Elements
• Context Clues (Fiction & Nonfiction)
• Main Idea
• Text Structure