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All students are given this PDF of transitional phrases. The PDF breaks down the types of transitions based on their purpose. The right column then gives a list of several transitional words or phrases that students are encouraged to use. This tool is meant to assist all students in their writing and speaking.

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Lesson 1, Text 1: 3 Tips to Boost Your Confidence TedEd

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Lesson 1, Text 1: 3 Tips to Boost Your Confidence TedEd

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Students will begin the lesson by watching a short TedEd video on confidence and and how to become more courageous. Students will practice listening comprehension by listening to the video. Students will then complete a think-write-pair-share. Students will fill in a concept map on courage. Students will then work with a partner to share their concept map and to add any new answers to their document.

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3 tips to boost your confidence - TED-Ed

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Lesson 1: 3 Tips to Build Confidence Concept Map 

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Lesson 1: 3 Tips to Build Confidence Concept Map 

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This is the graphic organizer that students will receive for their concept map. Students will watch a video reviewing how to build confidence, a critical factor in having courage. Students will then complete a think-write-pair-share to complete their concept maps about courage.

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Lesson 1: Template Academic Vocabulary: Introduction to Courage Unit

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Lesson 1: Template Academic Vocabulary: Introduction to Courage Unit

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This is the format that students will use to create a chart in their vocabulary notebooks. Students will need four columns: vocabulary word, definition, synonyms, sentence example. Students will hand write their notes in their notebook to use as a reference for when they read or write during this mini unit. This vocabulary will be front-loaded before any text is read.

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Template Academic Vocabulary_ Introduction to Courage Unit

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Lesson 1: Answer Key: Academic Vocabulary: Introduction to Courage Unit

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Lesson 1: Answer Key: Academic Vocabulary: Introduction to Courage Unit

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Students will follow along to the teacher's modeled notes, adding the words, definitions, synonyms, and example sentences to their own notes in their vocabulary notebooks. This is the main direct instruction and front-loading before the text of the day is read.

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Answer Key Academic Vocabulary_ Introduction to Courage Unit

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This is the annotation guide that I will be using in both my English Language Arts (ELA) and English Language Development (ELD) classes. I have created this to have clear steps for students to take as they annotate. Students are reminded that they do not need to complete each step, but rather, will learn over time what skill they want to apply to their close reading. This will be the first time that students annotate in class, which means it will be teacher-centered when annotating the text "The Terror".

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Students will focus on closely reading a memoir called "The Terror". The memoir is a short reflection of the author surviving bullying and learning to stand up for himself. Students will complete annotations and ultimately complete a partner poster summary paragraph that includes the theme of the story. This story is intended for students in grades 8-10 to read because of the academic vocabulary demands.

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Lesson 2, Text 1: What is a theme in literature?

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Lesson 2, Text 1: What is a theme in literature?

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Students spent all of middle school reviewing theme. This video will be a short review of theme and tips on how to find the theme of a text. Students will watch this video without taking notes. Students will then fill in more of their KWL chart. Students will then share at their tables one thing they learned from the video and a question they still have about theme. Then as a class the teacher will create a list of table answers about what was learned and existing questions.

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OSU School of Writing, Literature and Film

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"What is a Theme in Literature?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers

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This text, found on ReadWorks, is appropriate for grades 8-9 to read. This is a short memoir about Derek Redmond's experiences with being brave and showing courage. Designed as the first textual example of courage, students will read this text in order to start to make connections to their own life examples of being courageous.

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This is the graphic organizer to be used with the video What is a theme in literature?

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Lesson 2, Text 2: Little Red Riding Hood

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Lesson 2, Text 2: Little Red Riding Hood

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After reviewing theme, students will read the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood" in order to identify the theme. The story has been chosen because I found that most of my students enjoy the movie Shrek, which references the characters from the story. The story can be challenging because of some of the dated vocabulary and phrasing, but students should be able to understand the story through context clues and discussing with their tables.

Table discussion questions include:
What is the theme of this fairy tale?

Which character showed courage?

Which character did not show courage?

What motivated the characters to act the way they did?

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I have made this resource to scaffold how to write a summary of a text. It includes color-coding, sentence frames, examples, and reminders of what to do for each step.

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This is an online resource I am sharing with students so they can start to review theme in literature.

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Literature

Themes in literature are often varied and hidden. Sometimes you can get through an entire book and not realize what the author meant. However, this is a good basic list that you can build from. Remember that some books have multiple themes.

Beauty of simplicity

Capitalism - effect on the individual

Change of power - necessity

Change versus tradition

Chaos and order

Character - destruction, building up

Circle of life

Coming of age

Communication - verbal and nonverbal

Companionship as salvation

Convention and rebellion

Dangers of ignorance

Darkness and light

Death - inevitable or tragedy

Desire to escape

Destruction of beauty

Disillusionment and dreams

Displacement

Empowerment

Emptiness of attaining false dream

Everlasting love

Evils of racism

Facing darkness

Facing reality

Fading beauty

Faith versus doubt

Family - blessing or curse

Fate and free will

Fear of failure

Female roles

Fulfillment

Good versus bad

Greed as downfall

Growing up - pain or pleasure

Hazards of passing judgment

Heartbreak of betrayal

Heroism - real and perceived

Hierarchy in nature

Identity crisis

Illusion of power

Immortality

Individual versus society

Inner versus outer strength

Injustice

Isolation

Isolationism - hazards

Knowledge versus ignorance

Loneliness as destructive force

Losing hope

Loss of innocence

Lost honor

Lost love

Love and sacrifice

Man against nature

Manipulation

Materialism as downfall

Motherhood

Names - power and significance

Nationalism - complications

Nature as beauty

Necessity of work

Oppression of women

Optimism - power or folly

Overcoming - fear, weakness, vice

Patriotism - positive side or complications

Power and corruption

Power of tradition

Power of wealth

Power of words

Pride and downfall

Progress - real or illusion

Quest for discovery

Quest for power

Rebirth

Reunion

Role of men

Role of Religion - virtue or hypocrisy

Role of women

Self - inner and outer

Self-awareness

Self-preservation

Self-reliance

Social mobility

Technology in society - good or bad

Temporary nature of physical beauty

Temptation and destruction

Totalitarianism

Vanity as downfall

Vulnerability of the meek

Vulnerability of the strong

War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy

Will to survive

Wisdom of experience

Working class struggles

Youth and beauty

Movies

Movies generally have one or two themes, but not many more. The themes in movies are often said outright instead of hinted at. Some of the popular themes from movies today include:

Poetry

Themes in poetry are often quite apparent, but that isn't always the case. Sometimes the theme doesn't make itself apparent and is instead up to the reader. Reading a poem aloud often helps with understanding the theme. Here are some examples:

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A Huge List of Common Themes - Literary Devices

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Literature Themes in literature are often varied and hidden. Sometimes you can get through an entire book and not realize what the author meant. However, this is a good basic list that you can build from. Remember that some books... Read more →