CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.9
The Standard
Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literature
What This Standard Means
Students need to notice how two versions of the same story are alike and different. They should compare characters, settings, key events, problems, solutions, and lessons. They also need to use story evidence, not just say one book was better or funnier.
Mastery looks like a student saying, “Both stories have a mistreated character, but the helper is different,” and pointing to pages that prove it. Students often get stuck retelling both stories instead of comparing them, or naming tiny details without explaining why they matter.
Ways to Teach It
- Hands-on: Give pairs two Cinderella picture books and have them sort event cards into same, only in book one, and only in book two piles.
- Prompt: Which version’s main character had the harder problem, and what details from both stories prove your thinking?
- Quick check: After reading two versions, students complete a three-box chart labeled both, story one, and story two.
- Real-world connection: Compare two movie or cartoon versions of a familiar tale and discuss what changed for the audience.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.9
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.9
Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series).
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.9
Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.9
Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, ...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.9
Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar...