Picturing

Theme

6th Grade English/Language Arts

Grade Level/Subject:

Standards Targeted: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.2

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is
conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of
the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
Goal Statement:

Why is it important for students to learn this? The goal of

this lesson is introduce students to the topic of theme
using childrens literature. Picture books are less
intimidating texts, and great to use when teaching a
concept as challenging as finding Theme. The lesson will
help students grasp a better understanding of the lessons
from literature that can be learned and applied to our
everyday lives.

Objectives:

The Learner Will:

Learn about the literary element of theme.

Use discovery to read more about literary elements and
learn how to locate theme in a text.
Use text sources found in childrens literature to practice
identifying theme.
Compile their interpretations about theme using a
worksheet/graphic organizer.

Multimodal Text/Resource:

A variety of Childrens Literature (Picture Books)

Aesops Fables interactive website:
http://www.umass.edu/aesop/index.php
The Little Engine That Could (Optional Digital
Storybook) YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMlcoTnLyvU
Childrens Literature (Picture Books)
Suggested Titles:
o Faithful Elephants by Yukio Tsuchiya
o Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting
o The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia
Rylant
o The Raft by Jim LaMarche

o Mr. Peabody's Apples by Madonna

o Old Turtle and the Broken Truth by Douglas Wood
o Fables by Arnold Lobel
Materials:
Materials are listed:

THEME graphic organizer worksheet

Variety of childrens books (enough for students to work in
groups of 2)
The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper (Storybook)
Crayons, Markers, Colored Pencils, Pens
Sticky Notes (One for each student)
Aesops Fables Worksheet
Large Chart Paper or Poster Board
Computer Lab or Laptops (optional)

Lesson Outline:
Introduction: Today we are going to learn how we can come up with
the messages that authors wants us to learn in the literature we read.
That Big Message in a story we read is called the THEME!
Procedures:
Part 1
1) Activate students prior knowledge asking them if they have ever
read a story that taught them a lesson in the end. Allow students to
answer and give their feedback.
2) Students will then read three short Aesops Fables (The Fox and the
Grapes, The Wind and the Sunand The Ant and the
Grasshopper) and identify the obvious themes. Have students
compare their ideas about theme in these fables with a partner, to
see if any disagreement arises. Ask students to share their thoughts
with the teacher as well and have a class discussion over what the
three stories were trying to teach us.
3) Emphasize to the students that the sentence at the end of each
story is the THEME. It is the lesson that the author wants them to
know.
Part 2
4) Read Aloud The Little Engine That Could (This can be done with
the book or the digital read aloud which can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMlcoTnLyvU

5) At the end of the story, pass out a sticky note to each student, and
have them write a sentence or phase of what they believe the
THEME or lesson is of the story.
6) Allow students to post their themes on the white board or chart
paper with The Little Engine That Could written at the top.
7) Pass Out the THEME graphic organizer worksheet
8) Tell students that they will be analyzing the THEME of The Little
Engine that Could and when we are finished, we will revisit our
posted Themes to see if we accurately identified the Theme.
9) Model the appropriate way to analyze the THEME with the students
by going through each letter of the THEME graphic organizer . Use
the Think Aloud strategy and model how students should analyze
the texts THEME as follows:
a. T- What is important about the title? How does the title relate
to what the story is about?
b. H- How does the main character change? What happens in the
story that makes the train change? Who helps the train
change? Why does the train change?
c. E- What feelings or emotions do you have that the end of this
story and why?
d. M- What was the mood of the story? Mood is the feelings YOU
get when you read a story. What was my mood as I was
reading the story?
e. E- What message from the story applies to life? What can I
learn that I can use in any place in my life, not just if I was a
train and going up a mountain. But what can I learn that I can
use outside of school?
Part 3
10) Once you have modeled and completed the entire THEME
graphic organizer, allow students to pick a partner and choose a
picture book that they would like to read. Be sure to provide
students with a great variety of childrens literature that appeal to
the interests of your students.
11) Have students read their stories with their partners, and when
they are finished they need to come up with the Theme of their
stories.
12) You can pass out another copy of the THEME graphic organizer to
help students come up with an appropriate Theme.
13) Once they are finished, they should take the poster or chart
paper and create a visual representation of the Theme of their
stories. They can draw an important event that happened in the
story that lead them to identity that particular theme, or they can
draw a picture that shows what the theme means to them.
14) Provide an example of a visual of the theme for The Little
Engine that Could as a model.

15) To end the day, students can share their Themes as a book
review. They can give a brief summary of the childrens book they
read, and then share their themes and visual representations to
their classmates. This could also be done in the form of a gallery
walk, where students display their posters and themes and walk
around to see their classmates work.
Differentiation/Modifications:
Students who may struggle can be placed in groups with
students be placed in heterogeneous groups with students who
excel. Also, Students with IEP/504 accommodations will work
closely in groups with the Intervention Specialist. Differentiation
can be applied when students are choosing their picture books.
Be sure the books are on a variety of reading levels to
accommodate all students. Students will also be given a poster
presentation as a form of assessment.
Assessment:

This is a performance task, and students will be assessed on

their visual representations of the Themes they identified from
the childrens book they read. Create a rubric for the
expectations of their visual poster assignment.

Extensions:

An extension to this lesson can be Web Quest for Aesops Fables:

Part 4:
Students will use computers and explore more of Aesops Fables
and the themes they convey. Students can read more fables and
practice analyzing stories and the lessons they teach us. The
Aesops Fable interactive website can be found at:
http://www.umass.edu/aesop/index.php