Elementary teachers looking for lesson plans and activities for Same, Same But Different will find this post helpful. It includes resource recommendations, free teaching ideas, and information about the book. You’ll have everything you need to deliver engaging interactive read aloud lessons based on this story.
With themes of appreciating diversity, this Same, Same But Different picture book by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw is a favorite in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. It will be a big hit in your classroom too! Learn more about this book below!
Engage Your Students with Same, Same But Different Lesson Plans & Activities in 3 Easy Steps:
- Read a summary of Same, Same But Different. You can find it in the section below.
- Check out the teaching ideas for reading comprehension strategies, grammar topics and social emotional learning skills that can be taught using this children’s book.
- Download the book companion to make lesson planning simple with Same, Same But Different reading comprehension questions, writing prompts, teaching ideas & no-prep extension activities.
SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT SUMMARY
A boy named Elliot paints a picture of his world when he is in art class. His teacher sends it across the ocean. Elliot receives a painting back from a boy named Kailish. The two start writing to each other and sharing information about their lives where they live. The boys realize that while many things are different about them, they share a lot of similarities too! For example, both Elliot and Kailish live with their families. However, they are different because Elliot has a small family while Kailish lives with parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
This book will teach students about the lives of two boys that live in different parts of the world. Students will learn about their lives at school, lives at home, about their families, and where they live.
SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT LESSON PLAN IDEAS
Each of our 400+ Starts With a Story book companions come with a teacher’s guide to make lesson planning quick and easy, printable worksheets and digital resources that cover ALL of the standards-based reading comprehension skills.
When it comes to writing lesson plans and finding activities for Same, Same But Different, we’ve already done all of the heavy lifting for you.
We found this book was especially good at teaching the topics listed below.
READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
The text-based Same, Same But Different reading comprehension questions focus on:
- summarize/retell
- comparing and contrasting
- analyzing illustrations
- author’s purpose
- identifying theme, message and moral
LITERATURE-BASED SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING LESSONS
We found this story to be a great SEL picture book to promote:
- appreciating diversity
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY & WORD STUDY
- punctuation
- commas
- plural nouns
- homophones
SAME, SAME BUT DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES
You’ll receive all of the following resources aligned to the story:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
YOU HAVE 2 OPTIONS! WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK COMPANION?
BOOK INFO FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS
What are the reading levels for Same, Same But Different?
- Lexile® Measure: AD460L
- Guided Reading Level: M
- DRA Level: 20
- Accelerated Reader Level (ARC): 2.5-2.6
Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
The book was written by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw. It was illustrated by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw.
What genre is Same, Same But Different?
It is a fiction book. You may want to check out our genre activities or read our blog post, How to Teach Genre to Elementary Students.
How many pages are in the book?
The story is 40 pages long.
