UNDERSTANDING THEME

Theme is the message that the author wants you learn about life. It is not the topic of the piece. Topics are expressed in one word, but themes are expressed in sentences.

The topic of an article on sharks would be sharks. The theme might be that sharks have more to fear from humans than we have to fear from them.

Theme is a general statement and can be applied to many pieces of text. Topics are more specific and focused.

The objective for any lesson on this standard is that the student will identify theme in a piece of literature or poem.

In Amigo Brothers by Piri Thomas, the topic is friendship. The theme is that competition should not come between friends.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Scout's Honor" by Avi

Image
I've created a learning resource to go along with the short story that you can find in my shop. My students have been telling me that it's quite difficult. We've done two pages per day as part of our reading workshop minilessons. They're writing the notes and responses in their journals. The grammar connection on infinitives really threw them for a loop~it was the first time that they've encountered this verbal. Melissa
Read more

Back to School Bumper Sticker Activity and Printable

Image
Here in Middle Tennessee, we go back to school in two weeks, so it's the perfect time to begin thinking about icebreaker activities.  My Back to school Bumper Sticker Printable and Activity includes 20 different bumper stickers, 10 color and 10 black and white. There are 2 bumper stickers per page. Use this as an icebreaker in the following way: Students brainstorm some bumper stickers that they've seen and what those bumper stickers say about the person driving the car. Then, the students will write down several bumper sticker sayings that represent them and their ideas or beliefs. Show students some examples of completed bumper stickers. Afterwards, give each student a copy of the bumper sticker template. Each student designs and creates a bumper sticker that represents him or her. After students have created their bumper stickers, they walk around the room reading each other's bumper stickers. This activity is a fun and creati
Read more