Strengthen compare-and-contrast skills with this engaging Rooted in Reading unit featuring The Slug and The Cockroach by Elise Gravel! This week-long resource gives students multiple opportunities to gather information, organize their thinking, and clearly explain how two subjects are alike and different.

Over the course of 5 days, students will focus on comparing and contrasting, taking notes while reading, and using sentence frames to communicate similarities and differences. Through discussions, anchor charts, response activities, and printables, students will move beyond simply identifying similarities and differences and learn how to organize information they gather from texts.

Students will also explore the paired nonfiction topic Insect Imposters, providing another opportunity to build background knowledge and apply informational reading skills.

Vocabulary instruction is incorporated throughout the week with targeted activities that help students build word knowledge and use new vocabulary in context.

Each day includes a Daily Deep Dive centered around a mentor sentence. Students closely examine language from the text to practice reading, editing, grammar, noticing, and thinking about sentence meaning.

The week's grammar focus is adjectives, helping students understand how precise describing words add detail and strengthen their speaking and writing.

This resource includes:

• 5 days of detailed lesson plans for comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar
• Comprehension lessons focused on comparing and contrasting
• Note-taking activities to help students gather and organize information
• Sentence frames for communicating similarities and differences
• Comprehension focus posters, anchor chart templates, and discussion questions
• Reading response activities, printables, and assessments
• Paired nonfiction learning with Insect Imposters
• Vocabulary activities and practice
• Daily Deep Dive mentor sentence activities
• Grammar lessons and activities focused on adjectives
• Engaging text-based response activities