The Solution
Your students need to compare and contrast information.
The Situation
Venn diagrams are a useful tool to compare characters, features of a text and a number of other writing features. Remember, consider what you want your students to do and consider Bloom’s Taxonomy prior to making the lesson.
A venn diagram is simply tow circles that overlap; student record the differing and similar qualities in their respected boxes.
Check out the following example:
There are a number of ways you might use a Venn diagram. In this example, students use a Venn diagram to compare advertisements from different social contexts:
In this example, students compare the target audience of two picture books (Based solely on the images provided).
Venn diagrams can be used to compare more than two items. In this example, students have looked at the types of film trailers (teaser, theatrical and International). They need compare the qualities for each:
And to make things even more complicated, you can complete a Venn diagram as a cooperative task between four students. For example, you assign each student a box and they make their own comparisons. Next, they talk to each other and come up with a group consensus based on their own understanding. This can then be shared with the remainder of a the class for a broader discussion. Check out the instructions below:
The English Classroom 