OuiSi · Belonging

Same and different

Beta

Grades K–5 Teaching 30 min Plus 2 to set out, 2 to clear Class any size Set any Space room to stand in a circle

set out 2′ Start with the difference 6′ The circle 10′ The long train 10′ Close 4′ clear 2′

Goal: Children see that two things can be completely unalike and still connect. The cards carry the idea, so nobody has to be the example.
Materials: One OuiSi Photo-Card set. One card per child for the circle, plus about eight per group for the table work.

K–1: Circle only, one direction. Skip the train — about 20 min
Grades 2–3: Circle both ways, then the train — the full 30 min
Grades 4–5: No two links in the train may use the same kind of connection — the full 30 min

1 · Start with the difference

6 min

Hold up two cards that have nothing obvious in common. Do not pick an easy pair.

Tell me how these two are different.

Difference first, deliberately. It is the easy question, everybody can answer it, and it sets up the harder one.

Now. Find me one thing they share.

Wait. Take the first answer, then push once.

And what else?

2 · The circle

10 min

Everyone stands in a circle holding one card.

Find one thing your card shares with the card held by the person on your right.

Go around. One sentence each, as before.

Now turn the other way. Find something your card shares with the person on your left — and it has to be a different kind of thing.

Every card connects both ways. Nobody is left without a link, which is the structural point of running this as a circle rather than at tables.

3 · The long train

10 min

Groups of four at tables, about eight cards each.

Make one train where every card connects to the next. Every card gets in — none left out.

Then merge two groups, and merge again, until the class has one train running the length of the room.

Join your train to theirs. You will have to find one link between them.

4 · Close

4 min

Point to two cards in the train that are furthest apart. They are still connected. How?

Let them trace it along the train. The idea arrives on its own and does not need stating.

Watch for

Making it about the children. Do not draw the comparison out loud — children are like these cards. The cards do the work, and saying it flattens it. If a child says it, that is different, and let it stand.
A card that will not fit. It always happens, and it is the best moment in the lesson. Ask the room rather than solving it, and do not let a card be discarded.
Difference skipped. Step one has to be genuinely unalike. An easy pair makes the whole lesson trivial.
Children who like rules may want to know what counts. Give them the target: every card in the train, no exceptions.

Adapt

Multilingual learners — pointing at the shared feature is a complete turn in the circle.
Anxiety — standing in a circle is a lot for some children. Offer the table version of step two with a partner instead.
Motor needs — run the circle seated, passing cards along rather than standing.
Autistic children — a concrete shared feature is a correct and complete answer here. Say so, and do not ask for a less literal one.

Curriculum links. Stating a difference, then a similarity, between two images · Pushing past the first answer · Building a sequence in which every item connects · Finding the link between two items far apart.
Standard codes vary by state and district — these are the skills exercised, for you to map to your own.

Screen-free. No codes and no devices. Works with any OuiSi Photo-Card set.
Extension. Photograph the finished train and put it on the wall. It holds the idea without anyone having to explain it.