Virginia SOL 3.RL.3.B
The Standard
Compare and contrast details in paired literary and informational nonfiction texts including their treatment of similar themes, topics, and patterns of events.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Integration of Concepts
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students read two nonfiction texts, one told like a story and one written to explain facts. They compare details and explain how each author presents the same topic, message, or event sequence.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students select accurate details from both texts and connect them in a clear comparison. They can explain how one author uses scenes or feelings while another uses facts, dates, or headings.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may list facts from each text without stating how those facts are alike or different. They may confuse a shared topic with a shared message, or assume both texts must organize events in the same way.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short narrative biography and a fact article about Mae Jemison. Ask them to write one similarity and one difference, using a detail from each text.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Place detail cards from two texts into labeled hoops for text one, text two, or both, then explain two placements.
Ask, "How does each author help readers understand the person or event?" Students answer with one detail from each text.
Play Compare and Contrast Match, where students pair detail cards and label each pair alike or different.
Compare a firefighter's personal account with a fire department safety page, then discuss what each source helps readers understand.
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Printable 3.RL.3.B Worksheet
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- 6.RL.3.B
Compare and contrast details in two or more paired literary fiction and nonfiction texts on the same topic or with similar themes, including how chapters, scene...
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