Today my family and I are planning to pop in to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, so I made a new resource that fits the theme of the day. I think it’s also perfect for this time of year as things start winding down and the familiar glow of screen in a darkened classroom becomes more common. I designed this compare and contrast books and movies resource o help make showing a movie in the classroom an effective use of instructional time and to enhance the experience for your students. You can use the materials with any book and movie combination. Learn all about these activities to compare and contrast books and movies below!
What is this Book and Movie Comparison Resource?
I designed this compare and contrast resource to help make showing a movie in the classroom an effective use of instructional time and to enhance the experience for your students. This is especially helpful for when students are already checked out of all learning the last day before a school vacation. You can use materials in this resource with any book and movie combination. The open-ended nature also allows you to use them over and over again throughout the year. It has you covered for challenging days like the day before December break and the last week of school.
Why Teachers Love this Comparing Resource
Teachers love this compare and contrast resource for the following reasons:
- This book and movie comparison packet includes tons of differentiated materials so you can meet the diverse needs in your classroom and continue to use it if you switch grade levels.
- This packet is jam packed with a variety of activities so you can use them all or pick and choose which ones work best for you and your students.
- The activities are open-ended so they can be used over and over again throughout the year with different books and movies (e.g. Polar Express and Harry Potter).
- It helps make showing a movie in the classroom an effective use of instructional time.
- It’s the perfect activity for right before a school vacation.
What’s Included in this Comparison Resource
This compare and contrast books and movies resource includes the following activities:
- Generating Questions about the Movie Activity
- 5 Venn Diagrams to Compare a Book and a Movie
- Book vs Movie: Which Did You Like Better? Writing Activity
- Book vs Movie (Open-Ended for Teacher-Selected Prompt) Writing Activity
- Favorite Part of the Book and Movie Template
- Movie Story Map
- Movie Review Writing Activity
- Character Traits Graphic Organizer
How to Implement this Compare and Contrast Resource in Your Classroom
Below are 5 steps for implementing this compare and contrast books and movies resource.
1. Read the book.
Read aloud the book to your class. Depending on the length of the book, you may read it in one sitting or a little bit each day across a couple of weeks.
2. Have students complete some of the activities.
Have the students complete the “favorite part” section on pages 8 or 9 3.
3. Watch the movie and complete more of the activities.
Watch the movie. Make the viewing interactive by having them generate questions using page 4 and filling in the Venn Diagram on page 5 as they watch it. They can also complete the story map on page 10 during the viewing. You may want to pause the movie at times to allow for writing and discussion.
4. Facilitate partner and class discussions.
After the movie ends, have the students form peer groups for a discussion using their questioning cards.
5. Invite students to complete the remaining activities.
At this time, you may want to select from any of the additional pages included within this packet.
In closing, we hope this post about my compare and contrast books and movies activities was helpful! If you liked it, you may also be interested in these posts:
