Finding Theme

1. T: Good Morning Class! I would like for you to clear off your desk other than a pencil, and place your eyes on me so that I know you are ready.
2. The teacher will wait for students to clear off their desk and place their eyes on her.
3. T: Today we will be discussing what theme is and how we can determine the theme of the story. Can anyone tell me what they think the word theme means?
4. Allow a few students to answer.
5. T: Those were all great answers. I am going to show you a PowerPoint on theme, and I would like for you to follow along.
6. The teacher will go through PowerPoint on theme. (slides will include the definition of theme, how to look for themes in a story, examples of themes, and questions to ask yourself when reading a story that will help you discover the theme.)
7. T: Now that we have covered exactly what theme is, and how we can determine themes in a story, I want you to pay close attention to the story I am about to read to you. Questions to ask yourself: Does the title of the story reveal or suggest anything to you? How does the main character change throughout the story? What lessons did the character learn? What is the lesson or message about life that the author feels that you should learn by reading this story?
8. The teacher will read the story ‘The Selfish Crocodile’ by: Faustin Charles and Michael Terry. While reading the story, the teacher will stop throughout and ask questions to keep students thinking about the overall message of the story.

 
9. After the teacher has completed reading the story, she will pass out a worksheet for the students to complete on the themes they found in the story. Students should be able to come up with more than one theme, and once they have written them on the worksheet they should cut the cub out, and decorate it by drawing images that relate to the story.
10. Allow 10-15 minutes for students to work on the worksheet.

1. T: I can see that most of you are finished, or finishing up your ideas. Would anyone like to share the themes they came up with from listening to the story?
2. Have a few students share.

     13. T: From this mini-lesson you should have a better idea on what theme is, and how to locate them in a story.

The students will complete a worksheet on the story ‘The Selfish Crocodile.’ They must write down four themes they found in the story, and create an illustration that goes along with each theme from the story. When using this as the assessment, I will be able to tell if the students understand what theme is and how to point out themes in a story, by whether or not they able to correctly write the themes down from the read aloud. If the students are not able to list themes from the story, and support the themes they write with illustrations that go along with the story, then I know that they do not understand, and will need more work on this topic.