CurriculumGrade 6English Language Arts

Comparing Two Accounts

Aligned to RI.6.9 — Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

What this lesson teaches

Two authors can cover the same person or event yet present it differently — a memoir gives an insider's feelings, a biography gives an outside overview. Compare what each emphasizes, includes, or leaves out.

Worked example

A memoir of a climber lingers on her fear on the summit; a biography of the same climb reports the date, altitude, and record set. Same event, different presentations: one is personal, one is factual.

Practice questions

  1. Find two texts about the same person or event (or a memoir and an article).
  2. List one detail each account emphasizes that the other doesn't.
  3. Explain how the authors' different goals shape what they include.

Watch the lesson

Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.

▶ Watch this lesson

En español

Comparar Dos Relatos

Dos autores pueden tratar a la misma persona o el mismo hecho y presentarlo de forma distinta — una memoria da los sentimientos de quien lo vivio, una biografia da una vision externa. Compara lo que cada uno destaca, incluye u omite.

Ejemplo: La memoria de una alpinista se detiene en su miedo en la cima; una biografia de esa misma escalada reporta la fecha, la altitud y el record logrado. Mismo hecho, presentaciones distintas: una es personal, la otra es factual.

More Reading: Informational lessons

Evaluating an Author's ArgumentRI.6.8Evidence in NonfictionRI.6.1Central Idea and SummaryRI.6.2How Ideas Are DevelopedRI.6.3Meaning of Words in NonfictionRI.6.4How Text Structure Builds IdeasRI.6.5

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