Theme

Topic: Theme

Objectives & Outcomes

• By the end of this lesson, students will be able to identify the theme of a story and explain its significance.

Materials

• Copies of a short story or excerpt for each student
• Thesaurus
• Word collage sheets (optional)

Warm-up

• Ask students if they have ever heard of the word "theme." Ask them to define it.
• Review the definition of theme as a central idea or message in a work of art or literature.
• Ask students to think of a story or movie that they really enjoyed and ask them to explain what made it interesting or memorable to them.
• Introduce the concept of theme as the central idea or message in a story.

Direct Instruction

• Review the definition of theme again and provide examples of themes from popular stories or movies.
• Provide students with a list of theme words (such as "responsibility," "friendship," "courage") and ask them to think of a story or movie that includes one of these themes.
• Have students work in small groups to identify the theme word and explain how it is represented in the story or movie they selected.

Guided Practice

• Provide students with a different list of theme words and ask them to find a story or movie that includes one of these themes.
• Have students work in small groups to identify the theme word and explain how it is represented in the story or movie they selected.
• Assist students as needed and provide reinforcement as they work.

Independent Practice

• Ask students to choose a theme word that interests them and find a story or movie that includes it.
• Have students write a short summary of the story or movie, including a description of how the theme is represented.
• Encourage students to be creative and use their own words to describe the theme rather than quoting from the story or movie.

Closure

• Have students share their summaries with the class.
• Ask students to reflect on what they learned about theme and how to identify it in a story.

Assessment

• Observe students during the process of finding and organizing examples of theme in their independent practice projects.
• Evaluate the quality and depth of their summaries.