Comprehension - Venn Diagram

Comprehension means that we understand what we read or that what we read makes sense. A venn diagram is a helpful tool for comparing two or more different things. It helps a reader sort out commonalities and differences in a way that supports comprehension.

After you and your reader finish two versions of The Little Red Riding Hood story compare them using the venn diagram. At first this may look slightly daunting but it is really simple if you start small. Just follow the instructions below:

1. Label each circle with the name of a story. The number of circles that you use depends on how many books you are comparing. You can see in the cat & dog venn diagram there are two things being compared so there are only two circles. If I were to compare dogs, cats, and birds there would be three circles, but this can get complicated and should be reserved for older children.

2. Anything that the books have in common will be listed in the space where the circles overlap. The cat & dog example lists that they both have fur, ears, and a tail, and they are pets. These are things that are not unique to one or the other animal, they are features that dogs and cats both have.

3. List the features that are unique to story 1 in the left circle and do the same for story 2 in the right circle. As you can see in the dog & cat example, cats say "meow" and dogs do not so we would list it under the "cat only" side.

4. some questions to ask it help start your reader's thinking process include "what was the same about these two stories?" and "what was different?" If you  noticed some obvious or subtle differences/similarities that your reader is not noticing you may want to ask "What about ____?" or "Did you notice _____?"

I find this activity really fun, and I try to challenge myself by adding circles and things to compare. Once you get the hang of it you and your student will find yourselves comparing many things just for fun!

Here is a link to 7 reading strategies that can help your reader(s). Under strategy 3 there is a link to a printable template as seen here, but the overlapping circles can just be drawn on a sheet of paper.