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
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students read two tellings of one familiar tale and track what stays the same and what changes. They compare characters, settings, key events, problems, solutions, and lessons using details from each text.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can name a clear similarity and difference, then support both with events or details from each book. The student uses comparison words such as both, unlike, and however.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may list details from each book without directly comparing them. They may treat different illustrations as the main difference or confuse a changed setting with a changed plot. Some assume one version is wrong because it differs from the first version they heard.
How to Assess It
- After reading two versions, give this exit ticket: “Name one similarity and one difference. Support each with a detail from both stories.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs event cards from two Cinderella books to sort under Both, Book One, or Book Two, then explain one choice.
Ask students to write: “Which change between the two stories affected the ending most, and why?”
Play comparison bingo using squares labeled character, setting, problem, solution, and lesson as students find matches and differences.
Compare a traditional folktale with a modern retelling, then have students identify changes made for a new place, time, or audience.
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Printable RL.2.9 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.9, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetLearning progression
Where This Standard Sits
See the whole path on the Reading: Literature progression map.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
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Related Standards
- 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...
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