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Wash Day Then and Now: Compare Two Texts worksheet preview

Worksheet

Wash Day Then and Now: Compare Two Texts

Read an original text about wash day long ago and one about washing machines today, then compare and contrast their most important points.

Grade 2ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toRI.2.9

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What’s included

  • Single worksheet
  • Auto-graded online
  • 1 Common Core standard
  • Printable answer key
  • 8 questions
  • Classroom-ready

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 2
Subject
ELA
Question types
Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students tell how the most important points of two texts on the same topic are different.
  • Students find the points that two texts on the same topic share.
  • Students match steps in one text to the steps that do the same job in another text.

How to use

Read both texts together, then let students reread each one as they sort, match and answer. Talk about which steps stayed the same and which changed.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

RI.2.9

Compare and contrast the most important points made by two texts on the same topic.

Preview

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Name Date

Wash Day Then and Now: Compare Two Texts

Compare two texts about washing clothes long ago and today.

Read the two texts

Both texts tell how clothes get washed. Read Text A and Text B.

Text A: Wash Day Long Ago

Long ago, before washing machines, washing clothes was hard work. It took most of a day. Many families did their washing once a week, and the whole family often helped.

First, people carried water from a well or a pump. They often heated the water in big pots over a fire. Next, they put the clothes in a tub with soap. They rubbed each piece up and down on a washboard, a board with bumpy ridges. Rubbing helped get the dirt out of the cloth.

Then the clothes were rinsed in clean water. People twisted them to squeeze out the water. Last, they hung the clothes on a line to dry in the sun and wind.

Text B: How a Washing Machine Works

Today, many homes have a washing machine. It does most of the hard work for the family.

First, a person puts dirty clothes and soap into the machine and pushes a button. Pipes bring water into the machine. In many machines, a big metal tub called a drum turns back and forth. It tumbles the clothes through the soapy water. All that moving helps get the dirt out.

Next, the dirty water drains away, and clean water rinses the clothes. After that, the drum spins very fast to push water out of the clothes through small holes. Last, the damp clothes often go into a dryer, which tumbles them in warm air.

Alike and different

Look back at both texts as you answer.

1.
How are the most important points of the two texts different?
  • A. Text A tells how to build a washboard. Text B tells how to fix a broken machine.
  • B. Text A tells about washing by hand long ago. Text B tells about using a machine today.
  • C. Text A tells why people like clean clothes. Text B tells where to buy soap today.
  • D. Text A tells about washing with a machine. Text B tells about washing by hand long ago.
2.
Where does each fact appear? Sort the facts.
Water is heated in big pots over a fire.Soap is put in with the clothes.Someone pushes a button.The dirty water drains away.Many families wash once a week.Clothes are rinsed in clean water.
Only in Text AOnly in Text BIn both texts
3.
Each job from Text A is done a different way in Text B. Match each job long ago to the way it is done today.
  1. People carried water from a well or a pump.
  2. People rubbed clothes on a board with bumpy ridges.
  3. People hung clothes on a line in the sun and wind.
  1. A. A dryer tumbles the clothes in warm air.
  2. B. Pipes bring water into the machine.
  3. C. The machine tumbles the clothes through soapy water.
4.
Text A says, "People twisted them to squeeze out the water." Underline the sentence in Text B that tells what does this job in a washing machine.

Pipes bring water into the machine.Next, the dirty water drains away, and clean water rinses the clothes.After that, the drum spins very fast to push water out of the clothes through small holes.Last, the damp clothes often go into a dryer, which tumbles them in warm air.

Think about both texts

Use details from both texts.

5.
Use the word bank. Write one word in each blank.
Word bank: pump · drum · button · washboard · dryer

Long ago, people rubbed clothes on a  , a board with bumpy ridges. Today, many machines have a big metal tub called a  .

6.
Why was wash day long ago so much more work than washing clothes today?
  • A. People had no soap to wash with.
  • B. People washed their clothes every day.
  • C. People did all of the work themselves.
  • D. People had to wait for the drum to spin.
7.
Both texts tell about a tub. How is the tub different in each text?
  • A. In Text A, the tub spins very fast. In Text B, the tub is filled from a well.
  • B. In Text A, the tub has small holes. In Text B, the tub sits over a fire.
  • C. In Text A, the tub dries the clothes. In Text B, the tub heats the water.
  • D. In Text A, people rub the clothes by hand. In Text B, the tub moves them.
8.
Write one way washing clothes is the same in both texts and one way it is different. Use details from both texts.

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