CERCA Slides: Comparing Ideas

Comparison is both a powerful learning process and one that helps us organize and build understanding of the world around us. Engage your students in critical thinking and analysis as they compare stories, themes, and characters with this set.

CERCA Slides by Grade

Grade 3: Nana's Piano and Tuesdays

Are Greta’s and Finn’s feelings toward the piano more similar or more different?

CCSS.RL.3.9
CCSS.W.3.1

CERCA Slides

Student Guide

Pear Deck

Grade 4: The Dumpling Vendor and The Stolen Smell

Compare and contrast the themes within these two stories from different cultures. Are they more similar or different?

CCSS.RL.4.9
CCSS.W.4.2

CERCA Slides

Student Guide

Pear Deck

Grade 5: A Poetry Contest at Spellzany Castle and Tamitha and the Troll-Witch

Compare and contrast the two stories. Are Mary and Tamitha more similar or different in how they approach the antagonist in each story?

CCSS.RL.5.9
CCSS.W.5.1

CERCA Slides

Student Guide

Pear Deck

Grade 6: The Myth of Echo and Narcissus

Echo and Narcissus are characters in a myth that explains the origins of two very specific personality traits. Explain how the plot and character development in the myth of "Echo and Narcissus" helps readers to understand the consequences of having these traits.

CCSS.RL.6.3
CCSS.W.6.1

CERCA Slides

Student Guide

Pear Deck

Grade 7: Gold Fever! Deadly Cold! And the Amazing Adventures of Jack London in the Wild” and excerpt from The Call of the Wild

Compare and contrast the environmental challenges faced by the character John Thornton and his dog Buck in The Call of the Wild with the real-life challenges faced by the author, Jack London, during his turn-of-the-20th-century expedition in the harsh Yukon territory. Use evidence from the texts to support your claims.

CCSS.RI.7.9
CCSS.RL.7.9
CCSS.W.7.1

CERCA Slides

Student Guide

Pear Deck

Grade 8: The Necklace

In this updated retelling of the Cinderella story, the author provides a moral lesson about how money shapes our perceptions of happiness. Using evidence from the text, explain how the author develops this theme through the character of Mathilde and the symbol of the necklace.

CCSS.RL.8.9
CCSS.W.8.1

CERCA Slides

Student Guide

Pear Deck

Grades 9: The Odyssey

How is Telemachos’s character shaped by his understanding of and relationship with his father, Odysseus?

CCSS.RL.9-10.3
CCSS.W.9-10.1

CERCA Slides

Student Guide

Pear Deck

Grades 10: Prometheus and Frankenstein

Through extraordinary skill, both Prometheus and Dr. Victor Frankenstein unleash their creations on the world--Prometheus, the power of fire, and Dr. Frankenstein, the power to bring life into a corpse. Using evidence found in each text, analyze each character's motivations and discuss whether or not these characters were justified in creating and then abandoning their creations.

CCSS.RL.9-10.9
CCSS.W.9-10.1

CERCA Slides

Student Guide

Pear Deck

Grade 11: The Declaration of Independence

Trace and evaluate the components of the rhetorical situations presented in the Declaration of Independence. In what ways do the authors’ words and phrases reveal and reflect these components that shaped their rhetorical situations in this seminal document?

CCSS.RI.11-12.8
CCSS.W.11-12.1

CERCA Slides

Student Guide

Pear Deck

Grade 12: "I dwell in Possibility" (#657) and "Tell all the truth but tell it slant" (#1263)

How does each Dickinson poem reflect an opposing viewpoint related to the theme of revealing the truth of your thoughts and dreams to others?

CCSS.RL.11-12.9
CCSS.W.11-12.1

CERCA Slides

Student Guide

Pear Deck

Comparing Ideas

CERCA Slides by Grade

Grade 3: Nana's Piano and Tuesdays

Are Greta’s and Finn’s feelings toward the piano more similar or more different?CCSS.RL.3.9CCSS.W.3.1

Grade 4: The Dumpling Vendor and The Stolen Smell

Compare and contrast the themes within these two stories from different cultures. Are they more similar or different?CCSS.RL.4.9CCSS.W.4.2

Grade 5: A Poetry Contest at Spellzany Castle and Tamitha and the Troll-Witch

Compare and contrast the two stories. Are Mary and Tamitha more similar or different in how they approach the antagonist in each story?CCSS.RL.5.9CCSS.W.5.1

Grade 6: The Myth of Echo and Narcissus

Echo and Narcissus are characters in a myth that explains the origins of two very specific personality traits. Explain how the plot and character development in the myth of "Echo and Narcissus" helps readers to understand the consequences of having these traits.CCSS.RL.6.3CCSS.W.6.1

Grade 7: Gold Fever! Deadly Cold! And the Amazing Adventures of Jack London in the Wild” and excerpt from The Call of the Wild

Grade 8: The Necklace

In this updated retelling of the Cinderella story, the author provides a moral lesson about how money shapes our perceptions of happiness. Using evidence from the text, explain how the author develops this theme through the character of Mathilde and the symbol of the necklace.CCSS.RL.8.9CCSS.W.8.1

Grades 9: The Odyssey

How is Telemachos’s character shaped by his understanding of and relationship with his father, Odysseus? CCSS.RL.9-10.3CCSS.W.9-10.1

Grades 10: Prometheus and Frankenstein

Grade 11: The Declaration of Independence

Trace and evaluate the components of the rhetorical situations presented in the Declaration of Independence. In what ways do the authors’ words and phrases reveal and reflect these components that shaped their rhetorical situations in this seminal document? CCSS.RI.11-12.8CCSS.W.11-12.1

Grade 12: "I dwell in Possibility" (#657) and "Tell all the truth but tell it slant" (#1263)

How does each Dickinson poem reflect an opposing viewpoint related to the theme of revealing the truth of your thoughts and dreams to others?CCSS.RL.11-12.9CCSS.W.11-12.1

Introduce ThinkCERCAinto Your Curriculum

Are Greta’s and Finn’s feelings toward the piano more similar or more different?

CCSS.RL.3.9
CCSS.W.3.1

Compare and contrast the themes within these two stories from different cultures. Are they more similar or different?

CCSS.RL.4.9
CCSS.W.4.2

Compare and contrast the two stories. Are Mary and Tamitha more similar or different in how they approach the antagonist in each story?

CCSS.RL.5.9
CCSS.W.5.1

Echo and Narcissus are characters in a myth that explains the origins of two very specific personality traits. Explain how the plot and character development in the myth of "Echo and Narcissus" helps readers to understand the consequences of having these traits.

CCSS.RL.6.3
CCSS.W.6.1

How is Telemachos’s character shaped by his understanding of and relationship with his father, Odysseus?

CCSS.RL.9-10.3
CCSS.W.9-10.1

Trace and evaluate the components of the rhetorical situations presented in the Declaration of Independence. In what ways do the authors’ words and phrases reveal and reflect these components that shaped their rhetorical situations in this seminal document?

CCSS.RI.11-12.8
CCSS.W.11-12.1

How does each Dickinson poem reflect an opposing viewpoint related to the theme of revealing the truth of your thoughts and dreams to others?

CCSS.RL.11-12.9
CCSS.W.11-12.1

Introduce ThinkCERCA
into Your Curriculum