Lesson Plan: Compare/Contrast Essays

Teacher/s: Dani Scheffler

Level: Intermediate Writing

Date/Time: 10/27, 9:30-11am

Goal: to familiarize students with the structure and components of a compare/contrast

essay and prepare them to write an essay of their own
Objectives:
Students Will Be Able To
1. practice identifying thesis statements and topic sentences in an essay
2. describe the characteristics/content of intro, body, and (if time) conclusion paragraphs
in a compare/contrast essay
3. practice using Venn diagrams to organize their thoughts
4. (homework) choose a topic and begin formulating ideas for their own compare/contrast
essay
Theme(s): comparison and contrast
Aim/Skill/Microskill Activity/Procedure/Stage

Intera Time
ction

Review or Preview (if Linking & Transitioning to rest of lesson:

applicable)

(for
examp
le: SST)

1.1 Pre-Stage:
1. Remind Ss that midterm exams will be
returned next class (Tuesday) so that we can
go over them together.
Activity 1: midterm
needs assessment

T-SS

1 min

Ask students: Why do we have midterms?

Elicit a few responses from whole group, or let whole 2 min
Ss talk for 1-2 minutes before eliciting
group
responses if quiet.
1.2. During Stage:
1. Midterms are another way for teachers to give
Ss feedback and check Ss
knowledge/understanding/progress in a course,
but its important for teachers to get feedback
from Ss too!
2. Ask Ss to think back to needs assessment they
did in first class take 1 or 2 minutes to reflect

1-2

on what weve covered in the course so far and

what theyd still like to cover.

min

3. Hand out Midterm Needs Assessment and have

~5
students fill it out.
S-text min
Post-Stage:
Tangible Outcome & Assessment
Transition to #2: Lets
move on to our next
writing focus in the
course: writing essays

1. Collect needs assessments from class. Will

read them over the weekend and report back to whole 1 min
students on Tuesday with findings, potential
group
changes to syllabus, and an overview of whats
coming for the rest of the semester.

2.1 Pre-Stage:
Activity 2: breaking
down a
compare/contrast
essay: intro

1. Weve talked before about how we each have

different styles/ways of writing just like how
different cultures or languages have different
T-SS
styles of writing and thinking.

2 min

2. Put up slide with Kaplans patterns of written

discourse and have Ss identify which model
looks like how we write in English and which
(if any) looks like how they write in their L1.
3. In small groups (3s), have Ss discuss
similarities and differences between writing in S-S
English and writing in their own language.
After a few minutes, come back together and
listen to a few S responses.

3-5
min

whole 2 min
group

2.2. During Stage:

1. Weve just been comparing/contrasting writing
styles in our different languages by having
conversations what would a
compare/contrast essay look like?
Were going to look at an example essay one
paragraph at a time to see how information is
organized/structured.
(Activate prior knowledge: What are the parts

T-SS

2 min

of a paragraph? Do we have the same parts in

an essay? What do we start with?)
2. Hand out just the intro paragraph of sample
essay.
For each paragraph we read, Im going to have
you look for different things. Take a few
minutes to read the intro and underline the
S-text 5 min
thesis statement.
3. Pair Ss to discuss questions about the intro
(questions on handout).
Transition to #3: Lets
see if our predictions Post-Stage:
about the essay based Tangible Outcome & Assessment
on the introduction
1. Elicit responses to questions from S groups
paragraph come true
and see if class agrees/disagrees

S-S

~5
min

whole 3 min
group

(Ss will predict information in the body

paragraphs and confirm predictions in next
activity)
3.1 Pre-Stage:
1. Weve just predicted what kinds of info the
whole 2-3
writer might include in the body paragraphs of group min
the essay i.e. similarities/differences between
how Bosnians and Americans spend their time.
Activity 3: breaking
down a
compare/contrast
essay: body

If we want to compare/contrast 2 things, how

can we organize that information?
2. Ask if Ss have seen/used Venn diagrams
before.
Demo: Put model on board and show how the
diagram can represent the similarities and
differences between two things (use info from
intro paragraph to fill in a few example
comparisons on Venn diagram)
Youll get a chance to practice using a Venn
diagram to organize comparisons, but first lets
read the body paragraphs of the essay.
3.2. During Stage:

T-SS

3-5
min

1. Hand out body paragraphs of sample essay.

Take a few minutes to read through these
paragraphs, and underline the topic sentence of
each paragraph.
S-text 5-8
min
As you read, think about:
Does each topic sentence connect back to the
thesis statement/main idea we read in the
intro?
Does the writer include the information you
predicted he would?
2. Pair Ss to discuss questions above and hand
out Venn diagram worksheet.
Ss will use the information from the body
paragraphs to fill out Venn diagram, showing
the differences and similarities between
Bosnian and American culture the writer talks
about.

(if time: have Ss read

conclusion paragraph
and see how it
connects back to
Post-Stage:
intro/body paragraphs Tangible Outcome & Assessment
Is there anything
surprising or
1. Elicit some of the similarities/differences Ss
unexpected about the
found.
conclusion?)
2. How did the writer organize these comparisons
Transition to Wrapin the body paragraphs? (Focusing on one
up: Were going to
culture at a time? Switching between them?)
save the conclusion
paragraph for next
What do you expect the writer to write in the
week so that we can
conclusion paragraph?
talk about Written
Assignment #4
Introduce Written Assignment #4 (info on slide)
Wrap-up
Preview of whats coming up next week

S-S

~10
min

whole 5-10
group min

whole ~10
group min