Compare and contrast students look for similarities

Compare and Contrast
Students look for similarities and differences between two or more people or things.
Make Inferences
Students look for clues in the passage and draw upon their own experience
to understand information that is not directly stated.

Name:
© Evan-Moor Corp. • EMC 3453 • Daily Reading Comprehension
59
WEEK 9
DAY 1
READ THE PASSAGE
Look for how African and Asian elephants are the same and different.
Be an Elephant Detective
Wrinkly gray skin, a huge body, a seven-foot nose. Elephants all seem to look
the same. But there are two different kinds of elephants—African and Asian. Each
kind is named for the place where it lives in the wild. If you learn a few things to
look for, you can tell whether an elephant is African or Asian.
An easy way to tell African and Asian elephants apart is to first look at an
elephant’s ears. An African elephant has large ears that flap like wings. An Asian
elephant has much smaller, rounded ears. Next, look at the elephant’s head. The
top of an African elephant’s head is rounded. But an Asian elephant’s head has
two bumps on it. If the elephant does not have tusks, it is a female Asian. Finally,
check out the elephant’s body. If the back dips down in the middle, it is an African
elephant. The back of an Asian elephant is humped. If the two kinds of elephants
stood side by side, the African elephant would be much larger.
SKILL PRACTICE
Read the question. Fill in the bubble next to the correct answer.
1. How are the two kinds of elephants alike?
A
They both have small, rounded ears.
B
They both have very long noses.
C
They both have rounded heads.
D
They both have backs that dip down.
2. Which of these is a difference between
African and Asian elephants?
A
African elephants weigh more.
B
Asian elephants are taller.
C
African elephants have rounded backs,
but Asian elephants do not.
D
All Asian elephants have tusks,
but African elephants do not.
3. Which one describes Asian elephants
but not African elephants?
A
Their skin is wrinkled.
B
Male elephants have tusks.
C
They are named for where they live.
D
Their ears are small and rounded.
4. What is the passage mainly about?
A
how all elephants are the same
B
how to handle an elephant
C
how two kinds of elephants are alike
and different
D
how to identify an African elephant
STRATEGY PRACTICE
Write a question that you asked as you read the passage.
Compare and Contrast

Name:
60
Daily Reading Comprehension • EMC 3453 • © Evan-Moor Corp.
WEEK 9
DAY 2
READ THE PASSAGE
Notice what makes the two sports the same and different.
Two Sports to Play
Soccer and basketball are sports that are alike in some ways. Both are played
with a ball and two goals. In both sports, players dribble the ball to move it. Soccer
players dribble the ball by moving it with their feet. They never use their hands.