Compare and Contrast Fiction and Nonfiction Stories

Do you hear that? It's the sound of fire crackling! Ari and Zayd are having their annual summer campout and are telling stories by the fire. We can compare and contrast fiction and nonfiction stories while we listen to our friends. You might know that fiction stories are made up and often include imaginary characters. While nonfiction stories are about real people and life events. When we compare, we look at the similarities of two or more things, but when we contrast, we look at the differences between two or more things. Did you know you can compare and contrast fiction stories with nonfiction stories? We can do this by looking at the characters and events in the stories. Let's hear Ari's story to start. "There once was a ladybug named Boo who dreamed of flying, but just couldn't." "She thought she must be a bad ladybug, since all of her friends were able to fly." "Until one day, a friend told her, 'you must believe in yourself, then you will be able to fly!'" "Boo told herself, 'You can do this!' and knew that even if she didn't fly, she was still a good ladybug." "She jumped off of the tree and flapped her wings as hard as she could, and suddenly she was flying!" "The end!" Next we'll hear Zayd's story to compare it with Ari's. "That makes me think about the facts I know about ladybugs!" "Even though it's in their name, ladybugs actually aren't bugs at all!” "They're part of the beetle family, which makes them beetles!" "Ladybugs have SIX legs and can live through winter." "Some fly up to thirty-seven miles per hour! "And, there are up to four hundred different types that live in North America." "The end!" We can compare and contrast Ari and Zayd's stories using the characters and events. Let's look at the characters first. What was similar, or the same, about the topic of Zayd and Ari's stories? Both stories were about ladybugs! What did you notice was different about the characters in the two stories?" Ari's story had a fictional character named Boo, while Zayd's story did not have any characters. Now, let's look at what happened in each story. Did you notice any similarities between what happened in our friends' stories? Both stories talk about ladybugs flying! What about differences? Ari's story was fictional about a ladybug who wanted to fly, while Zayd's story included nonfiction facts about ladybugs. While our friends finish their campout, let's review. Today we learned about comparing and contrasting fiction and nonfiction stories. We learned two different ways to compare and contrast, what the story is about, and, what happens in it! "What was your favorite fact, Ari?" "They must be dreaming about ladybugs!"