Compare and Contrast Graphic Organizer Bundle (Free Printables)

1. Cut-and-Paste Comparison

Use this compare and contrast graphic organizer to help students identify specific ways that two topics are different and the same. Students can write facts in each square and use the center space to write what is the same. Or they can cut out the squares and organize the information for a multi-sensory approach.

Use these compare and contrast essays to teach students this writing format.

2. Compare and Contrast Boxes

This is a great chart to start students on as they think about compare and contrast. As students learn about two topics, they write how the two are alike in the top row and ways they are different in the bottom columns. Start with the two-columned graphic organizer and advance to the organizer with three columns when students have mastered identifying differences. 

3. Note-Taking Compare and Contrast Graphic Organizer

As students listen to discussion or lecture or read text, have them think about what they’re learning and how the information is either unique to one topic, or if it shares features with another topic. For example, reading about two types of weather and noting how they are different and the same. Using this graphic organizer, students can jot notes on two topics and note what similarities they notice in the center.

4. Compare and Contrast Essay Graphic Organizer

It’s one thing to analyze what they’re reading, and another to write using compare and contrast. Students can organize their ideas to write an essay or article using the compare and contrast format.

Use these compare and contrast essay topics to get students’ wheels turning. 

5. Comparison Castle

Teach students another way to compare and contrast using a chart. Students identify what they are comparing (e.g., book genres, species of animals) and list what is unique about each in the columns. They can highlight what is similar between various topics.