City-State Showdown

This comparative reading worksheet helps students in Grades 6, 7, and 8 strengthen analytical reading and historical understanding by examining daily life in two influential Greek city-states. Students read paired passages about Athens and Sparta and compare education, values, and gender roles, using evidence from both texts to understand how democratic and militaristic societies differed in structure and priorities.

Learning Goals

• Comparing & Contrasting Informational Texts (Grades 6-8)
  Students identify similarities and differences across two historical passages.
• Ancient Greece Understanding
  Learners analyze how Athens and Sparta organized society, education, and civic life.
• Textual Evidence Use
  Students support comparisons with details from both texts.
• Critical Analysis of History
  The activity encourages evaluation of how values shape culture and governance.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource
  Designed by educators to align with middle school ELA and social studies standards.
• Cross-Curricular Literacy
  Integrates historical content with reading comprehension and analysis skills.
• Clear Comparison Structure
  Prompts guide students in organizing similarities and differences.
• Flexible Classroom Use
  Ideal for Ancient Greece units, nonfiction reading practice, discussion prep, or assessment.

This printable worksheet gives students meaningful practice with comparing informational texts while deepening understanding of Athens and Sparta. By analyzing differences in education, values, and gender roles, learners strengthen critical reading, evidence-based reasoning, and historical literacy skills. Suitable for classroom instruction or homeschool use, this no-prep resource supports confident comparison and thoughtful engagement with ancient civilizations.

This worksheet is part of our Grade 7 Reading Comprehension collection.