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Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

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Activity for Initial Teaching- Helping Students Understand Theme

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Activity for Initial Teaching- Helping Students Understand Theme

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Teaching theme is not an easy task! Not only do students need to have a strong comprehension of the story's elements (like plot, setting, and characters), but they also have to be able to make inferences to find the author's message, since most themes are not overtly stated by the author.
So, what are some of my favorite activities for helping kids understand theme? I'll list a number of them here.

The second area of confusion for some kids is that the theme is not specific to the characters in the story. In the book 1. Make an Anchor Chart
Anchor charts are a great way to make learning visual and to have a record that kids can refer to when they need a bit of extra support.
Theme may be defined in a number of ways. To me, the theme is the author's message or what he/she wants the reader to take away/learn from the story. It is a BIG idea, with a real-world or universal concern and can be applied to anyone.
Besides talking about what a theme is, you'll also want to go over what it isn't. For example, some kids confuse the main idea of the story with its theme. To help students understand the difference, it's helpful to use stories that everyone in the class knows, like previous read alouds or classic stories like The Three Little Pigs. You can take each story and discuss the main idea (what the story was mostly about - specific to the story) vs. the theme (the lesson the author wants the reader to know - not specific to the story), to contrast the two ideas.

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, for example. The theme would not be that...A little mouse named Chrysanthemum learned to accept the uniqueness of her name. The theme would be larger than the book and would be something like...It's important to accept oneself.

For example, in the book,
Also, you'll want to explain to your students that often times, a book has multiple themes and there are several answers which work equally well to describe a book's theme. Since theme is very subjective, I tell students that I will accept any answer, as long as they have the text evidence to prove it.
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, one might argue that the theme is about friendship, another might say family, or even courage, or kindness. Any one of these themes would be right, and counted as such, since they each fit the story and could be supported by text evidence.

Besides the sheer enjoyment which comes from watching these mini-films, your students can learn a lot about reading concepts from these. They're great for ELL students or for struggling readers, and for all readers really since the text complexity piece is removed.
You can find these clips on YouTube, but you'll want to make sure to preview them first, so you're more familiar with the plot and are able to focus on theme questions.
Here are some of my favorite Pixar Shorts for teaching theme:

Piper
Partly Cloudy
Lava
Boundin'

Mentor texts are one of my go-to teaching tools as picture books are able to portray examples of just about any reading concept you need to teach. One thing I like to do when using mentor texts for theme, is to vary the types of questions I ask. Rather than If you're looking for more titles, I have a

always saying What is the theme?, I might ask... What is the deeper meaning of this story? After reading this book, what do you think matters to this author? Which idea from the story do you think might stay with you? What did the author want people to learn from this story?... Once kids answer, you might say, Ah...so that's the theme! Ish by Peter H. Reynolds
Some of my current mentor text favorites for theme include the following: I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe
Journey by Aaron Becker (a wordless book)
Beautiful Oops by Barry Saltzberg
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed
FREE Mentor Text List for Literature which includes a page on theme which you can download from my TpT store.

4. Use Posters with Themes to Chart Book Themes
I like to choose 8 - 10 common themes and place posters of them in the classroom. These are included in my Theme unit but you could easily make them yourself if you'd like. After we finish a class novel, a read aloud, or a mentor text as part of a mini-lesson, I like to have the kids discuss the theme of the book. Once we decide on the theme, I place a miniaturized copy of the book's cover (about 3 x 3 inches or so) under the correct theme poster.
You can also make the posters more interactive by allowing kids to write titles of books they have recently read on sticky notes, under the posters as well.

5. Use Songs to Practice Finding the Theme
I love to add music to the classroom whenever possible. Not only does it add instant motivation for some kids, but it is also just good for them in so many ways. There are lots of songs you can use to teach theme, from current pop songs to oldies, rap songs, and country songs.
While all of these work well, I especially enjoy using Disney songs. Disney songs are easily recognized for some kids, have catchy, fun tunes, and have lyrics that need no censoring (yay!). You can easily find the lyrics online to project on a smartboard or document projector, and the song clips may be found on YouTube,
Here are some of my favorite Disney songs which work well for theme:

Hakuna Matata from Lion King
Just Keep Swimming from Finding Dory

Something There from Beauty and the Beast
A Whole New World from Aladdin

6. Introduce Short Texts Using Task Cards
Using task cards for theme gives your students a great deal of practice in a short period of time, which makes them a perfect way to begin to practice finding the theme using text. I love the fact that students can read multiple task card stories and practice finding the theme 20 - 30 times, in the time it might take to read a story and find the theme once.
You can do task cards as a center activity, to play Scoot, or as a whole class scavenger hunt. One thing I like to do for the scavenger hunt is to make sure everyone has a partner and to pair stronger readers with struggling readers.

7. Add Some Writing After students have worked on theme for a week or two, I like to have students create their own short stories which show a strong theme, without directly stating it. This changes each student's role from a theme finder, to a theme creator and gives students insight into how authors create a situation that allows a theme to unfold.
When I introduce this project, we refer back to the task cards we just completed, as an example of story length and rich content. In a matter of 2 - 3 paragraphs, students learn that they can include enough information to let our readers know our message.

After students are finished creating these short stories, it's fun to share them in some way, to give more theme practice. Sometimes I have students meet in small groups to share out, with group members guessing the theme. Other years, I leave a stack on my desk and grab several if we have a few minutes. Either the students or I read the short story out loud, and the class discusses the theme. If you're looking for some ready made materials to help you teach theme, here's a packet I love to use which works well for 4th and 5th Graders.
8. Move to Passages, Short Stories, and Novels.
Once we have scaffolded a great foundation for the understanding of theme, there comes a point where kids have to move on to text which is more challenging. I like to use page-long passages which I have created, before using short stories, and ultimately novels.

Click here to read more about the Theme unit.

Want some more teaching ideas and activities to teach theme?
Click here to read Teaching Themes in Literature.
If you like this post, make sure to share it with a teacher friend! Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Teaching theme is not an easy task! Not only do students need to have a strong comprehension of the story's elements (like plot, setting, and characters), but they also have to be able to make inferences to find the author's message, since most themes are not overtly stated by the author.

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Activity for Initial Teaching- Identifying Theme Worksheets

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Activity for Initial Teaching- Identifying Theme Worksheets

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Are your students having trouble identifying theme within a story? This step-by-step process scaffolds through several reading comprehension skills to help students get a thorough understanding of theme. Students will be able to determine the theme of a story, poem, or drama from details in the text by first learning basic knowledge of story elements, summarizing, main idea, topic, and lesson! Read on to see how to introduce them effectively for teaching theme!

To help students understand theme, they will first need to build basic knowledge of story elements, summarizing, main idea, topic, and lesson. Teach the following reading skills one day at a time. Each skill will build upon the prior one and prepare students to understand THEME. For each step of the process, take time to:

To begin, read a mentor text to students. I will be using Chrysanthemum as an example for all of the lessons in this post. Since each skill builds upon the last, follow the steps in this order:

1. Story Elements

To understand theme, students must first have a basic knowledge of Story Elements. These are explicit details (directly stated) in a story: characters, setting, problem, solution.

Characters - Any person or animal in the story.

Setting - Where and when the story takes place

Problem - An issue or confict in the story.

Solution - How the problem gets solved.

Examples using Chrysanthemum:

Characters : Chrysanthemum, Victoria, Jo, Mrs. Twinkle, her parents

Setting : At the school and after school at her home

Problem : The children are teasing Chrysanthemum for her name being a flower and being so long.

Solution : Mrs. Twinkle shares her flower name and names her baby after Chrysanthemum.

Other mentor texts that work well for teaching story elements:
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe

Word After Word by Patricia MacLachian

2. Summarize

The next step to understanding theme is to summarize the text. Retell the basic story elements in your own words. Don't include every event in the story. Point to the fingers on your hand to remember the five words used to help write a summary: somebody, wanted, but, so, then.
Examples using Chrysanthemum:

Somebody : Chrysanthemum

Wanted: To be liked by her classmates

But : They teased her for being named after a flower and having a long last name.

So : Mrs. Twinkle shares her name Delphinium after a flower.

Then : She names her baby Chrysanthemum.

Other mentor texts that work well for teaching summary:
by Chris VanAllsburg

Grandpa's Teeth by Rod Clement

To continue the scaffolding approach, students should have a solid understanding to identify the main idea of the text. I like to think of Twitter with telling a main idea because you don't want it lengthy.
Example using Chrysanthemum: Chrysanthemum gets teased for her name. Other mentor texts that work well for teaching main idea:
Ivan: The Remarkable Story About Shopping the Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate
Scholastic News
To continue with the steps leading to theme, students need to be able to find the topic of the text. I like to use a hashtag for a visual!
Examples using Chrysanthemum: bullying and belonging
A list of topics:

Learning the moral or lesson to a story gets you a step closer to theme.

Think about what the author wants you to learn from the story.

It is the moral principle of a story.

It teaches the difference between right and wrong.

It is often explicitly stated at the end of the story.

Examples using Chrysanthemum:
Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Don't judge a book by its cover.

A list of lessons
Other mentor texts for teaching lessons: Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales The Classic Treasury of Aesop's Fables
Through exploring all the previous reading comprehension skills, you have prepared students to learn about theme.

Theme is an implicit skill (indirectly stated). Students will need to dip deep into the text for higher-order thinking and synthesize (merge prior knowledge and elements from the text to reflect on perspectives and insights). Explain to students that theme is a message in the story and that there is no right answer. If they can supply evidence from the text, their interpretation of the theme is justified.

Some questions to consider:

What message does the author hide and want you to find?

How can you relate to the theme?

Does the theme remind you of anything you've watched or read?

It is a broad idea or the author's underlying message.

It is a deeper understanding that usually is inferred, not stated.

It is a statement about the topic and can be related to the main idea or lesson.

It can reflect your own life or the world around you.

It is subjective. There can be more than one theme.

It may be interpreted differently by others.

Examples using Chrysanthemum: The value of our differences.
Superficial judgment as poor judgment.

A list of themes
Other mentor texts that work well for teaching theme:
The Librarian from Basra by Janette Winter

The One and Only Ivan by K.A. Applegate

I hope this step-by-step approach was an effective way to introduce theme to your student(s)! If you would like an all-inclusive teaching resource including these ideas along with anchor charts, passages, interactive notebooks, task cards, practice pages, a project and more, click below!

Are you looking for a bundle of reading units? This bundle includes Inference, Text Evidence, Theme, Mythology, and Cause and Effect! Click below to learn more.

DISCOVER RELATED RESOURCES:

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Are your students having trouble identifying theme within a story? This step-by-step process scaffolds through several reading comprehension skills to help students get a thorough understanding of theme. Students will be able to determine the theme of a story, poem, or drama from details in the text by first learning basic knowledge of story elements,...

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Activity for Initial Teaching- Helping Students Understand Theme

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Activity for Initial Teaching- Helping Students Understand Theme

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Teaching and Assessment

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When students in Becca Morris's class start listening to R.J. Palacio's she looks forward to the discussion it will inspire, with questions like What does it mean to be a true friend? What's the role of the bystander in bullying situations? and Can we tell what a person is like just by looking at them? anchoring the conversation. It is conversations like these that facilitate teaching theme in language arts. And the answers can turn reading a book into a life-changing experience for young learners.

"Studying themes like trust, integrity, and honesty," says Rachel Claff, editorial director for the Great Books Foundation, "builds thoughtful world citizens and friends, the kinds of thinkers you want to have in your classroom."

Each time students read, they're entering into a conversation with the author about what matters, says Jeffrey Wilhelm, distinguished professor at Boise State University and author of Fresh Takes on Teaching Literary Elements. At the core of that conversation, however, is comprehension. To fully explore theme, students must understand what they read and then extract ideas from the text. "You can't think with ideas unless you understand them," says Wilhelm.

Here are 14 tips to help your students understand theme as they read.

1. Meet your students where they are.

Plan reading and discussion around questions that your students are already grappling with, from What does it mean to be a good friend? to What is heroism?

When you connect your literature themes to character development and what's going on in students' lives, your discussions will hopefully resonate deeply with them. One goal with teaching theme, explains Jodi Libretti of the Great Books Foundation, is to encourage students "not only to think about ways that they can live, but the type of person they want to become."

2. Start with concrete details.

Before they can identify and work with the theme of a story, your students need to have a strong grasp of the details: setting, character, plot. When they work with theme, they have to synthesize all that information into an overarching message. Use anchor charts to outline the elements of the story or give students a graphic organizer to follow.

3. Clarify the difference between theme and main idea.

Source: Mrs. Smith in 5th

Many students have difficulty differentiating between the main idea and the theme. The theme is the underlying message that the author wants to convey, whereas the main idea is what the story is mostly about. Teach these concepts separately and together. You might practice identifying themes and main ideas using Disney films or the stories your students read last year in order to have a common reference point. After you review as a class, give students a list of themes and main ideas and challenge them to work in pairs to create matches.

4. Scaffold the learning.

Theme is a difficult concept to grasp. Unlike the concreteness of setting or plot, theme is subtle and subjective. Move from simpler to more complex class assignments to help your students deepen their understanding. Humanities teachers Sara Kaviar and Megan O'Keefe, of the Wildwood School in Los Angeles, invite their students to work in groups to identify the theme of a fairy tale. Next, they create different endings to the tale and work together to identify how the new ending affects the theme. Finally, students write their own plots to match a given theme. Watch a video of how they approach teaching theme here.

5. Use essential questions.

Source: Creating Readers & Writers

Essential questions are open-ended, thought-provoking, and important in helping students develop their understanding of the theme. Questions like Why do people behave honestly? and What makes a good friend? are ones that you can return to throughout the year to analyze how students answer. See how their answers change as you read different authors' takes on the subject.

6. Ask story-specific questions, too.

Specific, targeted questions help focus students on the text. "Asking 'what is the theme?' sometimes strands students because it's too general," says Claff. On the other hand, asking questions that are more explicit, like "Where does friendship play an important part in this story?" can be too leading. Instead, ask questions that draw from the text and require evidence to support theme. For example, if you're reading Tuck Everlasting, you might ask, "Should Winnie drink the immortality water?"

7. Approach theme from different directions.

Be ready to phrase questions about theme a few different ways because you never know which question(s) will resonate with students. Some questions that will encourage thinking about theme are: What did the author want us to think about? What idea stays with you? and What will you remember about the story a year from now?

8. Accept a range of answers.

Of course, for many texts, there are often multiple themes and more than one way to express them. Be flexible when accepting students' answers to theme-based questions. Students will often be grappling with concepts they can't fully own. For example, if a student says the theme of Tuck Everlasting is living forever is a bad idea, you can work with the class to find different ways to express this thought. You might say, "Okay, what are some other ways we can say that?" Guide students toward the theme rather than requiring one right answer, which can turn the discussion into a game of guessing the teacher's thoughts.

9. Allow students to disagree with the theme.

Let students know that they don't have to agree with the theme, just because they read it! Showcase two opposing themes and have students discuss which one they agree with more. For example, you could have a paragraph with the theme of You can always trust your friends and another paragraph with the theme of If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

10. Get away from the obvious.

It's easy to tease out the theme from some stories (think: Aesop's The Ant and the Grasshopper). Challenge students with stories that don't follow a typical pattern. For example, in the Great Books unit on honesty, students read about characters who begin each story by being dishonest. By starting with a character who's lying, students explore deeper issues of honesty from the start. The careful use of stories, says Claff, opens up issues for students in an interesting real-world way.

11. Connect your discussions to other subject areas.

Do you see examples in social studies or current events that connect to your theme? Start a collection or bulletin board around your current literature theme. Students can add examples from pop culture, history, or other reading. Help students connect the theme to their own lives by assigning take-home activities that build personal experiences around each theme. When students study kindness in Great Books, they perform a random act of kindness. And when third graders study gratitude, they give an anonymous gift so they can experience what it's like to not receive a thank-you.

12. Provide a range of reading options.

To engage students at varying reading levels, provide a selection of books on one theme. When teacher and author Laura Robb teaches about obstacles, she fills her classroom library with biographies so students can read about how different historical figures overcame challenges in their lives. Even when each student is reading something different, they are still engaging with the theme in conferences and writing. One way to introduce choice is to have a read-aloud anchor text for all students, with a variety of stories to choose from for independent reading. In conferences, ask students to relate and connect their independent reading to the read aloud.

Teaching theme gets at the heart of what we want for students-authentic, meaningful, and memorable experiences with text. Jeff Wilhelm may have put it best, "If you can read for theme, you can participate in a democracy."

13. Use mini lessons to drive the point home.

These seven quick mini-lessons help for teaching theme and how authors and artists extract a big idea.

Read inspirational words to define a theme and brainstorm stories, movies, or real-life events in which you see this theme played out.

2. View compelling art.

Make art a springboard to discuss themes and how they're interpreted. For example, Edvard Munch's The Scream can inspire a discussion about the theme of fear and uncertainty.

3. Listen to songs.

Songs can lend themselves to a discussion of how artists communicate larger messages through lyrics. For instance, Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance" lends itself to a discussion of independence.

4. Pull out the oldies but goodies.

Fairy tales are quick hits in teaching theme-like pulling the theme of envy from Snow White.

5. Review popular movies.

Brainstorm theme ideas from popular movies. For example, The Lion King and responsibility or Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and greed.

6. Watch a Pixar short

Pixar shorts are easily found on YouTube. You can watch them as a class and then hone in on a theme discussion. Consider Piper, Partly Cloudy, and Lava.

7. Judge some books by their cover.

Post the covers of books you have read and ask students to discuss whether or not the theme is evident on the cover.

14. Continue to assess theme throughout the year.

As the year progresses, you'll want to know if teaching theme paid off and if students are able to identify theme independently. Here are eight suggestions for finding out if your students are getting it.

1. Use annotation.

Have students annotate a text with details, quotes, and other "golden lines" that highlight the theme. Save and print our free teacher and student infographic posters on annotation.

2. Monitor reader responses.

Writing responses to the essential questions from the start to finish of a unit will help you see how students develop their ideas.

3. Map character growth.

Oftentimes theme comes from the way characters-usually the main character-changes and grows throughout the story. Have students create a growth chart focused on one character, that marks transitions in their development.

4. Compare the theme with that of other stories.

Connecting the theme from one story to another shows that students grasp the theme in a broad sense.

5. Cite evidence.

Ask your students to give concrete examples from the book that demonstrate the theme. This can include quotes, summaries, or title headings, to name just a few.

6. Reflect.

Have students make a connection through writing and discussion on what the theme means to them personally and how their understanding of the theme has changed based on their reading.

7. Search for additional themes.

Many stories have more than just one theme-sometimes, you just have to dig a little. Using a story that students are familiar with, have them identify and support a theme that's different than the one you've already studied. For example, in the story Oliver Button, students may come up with themes of bullying, gender roles, and determination.

8. Listen for theme.

In reading conferences with students, train yourself to listen for specific details and examples about theme. The more students are understanding, the better they'll be at answering questions like What does the author want you to remember?

What are your tips for teaching theme? Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

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14 Essential Tips for Teaching Theme in Language Arts

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When students in Becca Morris's class start listening to R.J. Palacio's she looks forward to the discussion it will inspire, with questions like What does it mean to be a true friend? What's the role of the bystander in bullying situations? and Can we tell what a person is like just by looking at them?

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Activities/Accommodations for English Language Learners (ELLs) 

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Activities/Accommodations for English Language Learners (ELLs) 

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A MiddleWeb Blog

One of the best ways to help kids love reading and get enthusiastic about school is by making learning fun!

Make them want to be part of it. Make them laugh, cry, think deeply...engage them and evoke emotion, and suddenly you have kids who want to do the work of learning.

Short animated videos are excellent for supporting literacy skills while making the learning fun and engaging. They are especially effective for English learners because they are visual in nature. Think of the short animated video as a scaffold to a written form of the text.

Since often English learners are reading in English at levels that are lower than their cognitive level or their ability to read in their native language, the use of the video allows students to think critically and experience a story at a higher level than they can decode on their own.

Short animated videos offer a quick narrative. Their generally brief form allows for multiple views to go deep into the literary moves the author makes.

What is a short animated video? Technically it is a film not long enough to be considered a feature film or movie. For our purposes, we will consider videos such as short cartoon clips that tell a story. Let's explore.

Characteristics of good short videos

Many short animated videos lack dialog which is a plus for teachers with English learners in class - we can use that with our students! We can ask them to create dialog that the characters might say. Students can take on the characters' roles and practice speaking. For English learners, the opportunity to practice speaking in a low stress environment is always a bonus.

What makes short animated videos supportive for English learners? They

Are highly visual in nature

Have short narrative structures

Have engaging topics

Evoke emotion

Reduce the decoding load

Support all language domains (listening, speaking, reading, and writing)

These key instructional moves make lessons more accessible for English learners:

Multiple viewings

Pause during viewings to discuss or clarify

Embed opportunities for structured partner conversation
model what is expected to set students up for success

There are many compelling and relevant short animated videos that middle schoolers love. You just have to find one that relates to your students and the skills or topic you are studying.

Here's Jacob Frey's wonderful short, "The Present," his thesis film from the Institute of Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Postproduction at the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg in Ludwigsburg, Germany (the small bits of dialogue are in English).

Video learning with middle schoolers

Here's an example overview using an animated short film with middle school English learners in mind.

1. First viewing is for the students to enjoy and get the gist of the narrative and perhaps make predictions.

2. Second viewing is to watch for story elements and plot them together on a graphic organizer.

3. Third viewing is to notice specific literary elements.

Teaching Suggestion:
With each viewing, tell students in advance why they are viewing it...the purpose. During and after each viewing, provide specific opportunities to speak with a partner or group and write. The three viewings work best if shown on different days rather than all at once.

Sample Daily Sequence:
Day 1: "Students, today we are going to watch a short film called ' Dustin.' It's a story about two unlikely friends. Think for a moment about a time when you made a friend that wasn't like you." Give wait time. Write the sentence stem "I made an unlikely friend when..." for all students to see and say, "When you are ready to share with you partner, stand up and share with them using the sentence stem."

After all students have shared with their partners, call on a couple of students randomly to share with the whole class. "Now let's watch the video, and as we watch, let's see how the characters become friends." Play the 7 minute video. Following the video, ask students to share with their partners what surprised them most about the story.

Day 2: "Readers, today as we watch 'Dustin' again, I want you to look closely at the story elements. We will be filling in the story map together after the video. Be prepared to share ideas." (Choose a favorite story elements graphic organizer and adapt for video if needed. Share ahead of time so students will know what to look for while viewing the video. If you are introducing new story elements, teach them here.)

View the video, pausing after the first story element is introduced to do a think aloud. "Oh, I see here that the story is taking place..." Or "I'm thinking that the characters are..."

After the video say "Readers, think about the way the author tells the story. How does the author use music to set the tone and mood? Turn and share with your partner." Partner A shares first; then partner B can either agree or disagree, using "I think the author"..."I agree because"..."I disagree because." After students finish collaborating, work as a class to complete the story elements graphic organizer.

Day 3: "Readers, today as we view 'Dustin' again, I want you to zoom into how the characters' relationships change throughout the story and why. I want you to really look closely at when the shift happens. You can take notes if it will help you to remember. You can draw or sketch also. In addition, here are some discussion starters you and your partner can use when we stop to talk: In the beginning...but now.... At first they...but then.... A change happened when.... Their relationship changed from...to.... I noticed that...."

Students can chorally read the stems with you or echo read them. Play the video, stopping at critical moments for partner discussions.

Following the multiple viewings and discussions, students can write. Depending on the language proficiency of your students, you can either ask students to write independently or give students a paragraph frame to support their linguistic needs. The paragraph frame should be similar to what students were asked to discuss with their partners.

Try a Language Experience Approach

Another way to support students in writing is to do a Language Experience Approach ( click here to listen to Carol Salva's voicED podcast on the Language Experience Approach) with the animated short that the class viewed. Since the group experienced the same video, they can do a shared writing.

In this case, the LEA strategy offers maximum support for English learners who are at beginner or emerging levels of proficiency. The class works together to produce a summary of the story. For more on the language experience approach click here.

Pairing the short animated video with a read aloud or a text that the class is reading will provide students with a connection to text. Discuss the connection and compare the two narratives or pieces. Using the short animated video as a way to implement a gradual release model allows students a guided practice and a model of thinking the process aloud with you and with their peers before they go off and do it on their own.

Here's one more to sample, Alike by Daniel Martínez Lara and Rafa Cano Méndez.

Where to look for more videos

Here are some additional resources where you can find more information about using short animated videos with your English learners to boost listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Larry Ferlazzo's The Best Fun Videos for English Learners in 2018 The Seven Best Short Films for ELT Students by Kieran Donaghy
ALSO CHECK OUT THESE

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Teaching English Learners with Short Animated Videos

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Short animated videos support literacy skill development while making learning fun. For English learners they serve as a scaffold to a written form of the text.

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Kids need to be able to learn to read text for meaning ... (and ask themselves) "Do I know why I'm reading this? Do I know what information I'm looking for?" ... We're always delivering the curriculum in a way that draws on language and reading skills.
- Dr. Nonie Lesaux

Do you remember buying used textbooks in college? If you were lucky, you got one that was highlighted by a skilled student, giving you clues to key information from the book that you needed for your coursework. If you weren't lucky, you got a textbook that had practically all words highlighted on each page and you were looking at a sea of neon pink, yellow, or blue, which could be very distracting. My guess is that a lot of high school students head to college without ever having learned to interact effectively with non-fiction texts. Since books are a precious resource in K-12 education systems, students aren't allowed to highlight or mark in them, and may rely more heavily on the classroom instruction and peer interaction than their reading material to grasp the main idea of a lesson.

Reading Non-fiction with ELLs

See more great ideas in our related resource section on reading non-fiction with ELLs!

Of course it's not just a question of highlighting important information - it's a question of learning key concepts and vocabulary by becoming familiar with different kinds of text, by learning to use a textbook's tools and structure, and by monitoring one's own comprehension of non-fiction text. Without ever having developed these skills, students will have a tough time when it comes time for them to learn information independently in more advanced coursework and in college.

This is especially true for English language learners, who are challenged by learning a new language and new content in that language at the same time. Teachers can help prepare ELL students to successfully work with non-fiction, (or expository) text, however, in many ways - and the earlier the better. Starting early is important because if elementary school classrooms have a predisposition towards fictional stories and literature, students may struggle when they get to fourth grade and need to engage effectively with non-fiction texts in order to learn new content.

In Colorín Colorado's Reading to Learn: ELLs in Grades 4-6 webcast, featured panelist Dr. Nonie Lesaux addresses this transition:

There probably is a fourth-grade slump, but the question is whether we're just picking something up in fourth grade that's already been there for a lot of years for a number of kids, and/or whether, in fact, there are differences in the comprehension demands of the curriculum, and certainly that's a question ...(because by fourth grade) we have reading that cuts across a number of areas of instruction, so reading is not just relegated to reading instruction but rather we need to have good reading comprehension skills for math, for science, for other areas of the curriculum.

While some of those challenges relate to reading instruction in content areas, they also relate to improving the instruction non-fiction texts for ELLs so that students can work successfully with content-area material. In this article I will highlight components of non-fiction texts and effective strategies to help ELLs gain the skills needed to not only understand the content, but understand how the text structure works so they will be able to access content effectively throughout their education.

Introducing text

First, let's look at definitions of types of text:

Narrative: The main purpose of narrative text is to tell a story. Narrative text has beginning, middle and end, characters, plot or conflict, and setting. Usually, narrative texts are written from the author's imagination.

Expository: The main purpose of expository text is to inform or describe. Authors who write expository texts research the topic to gain information. The information is organized in a logical and interesting manner using various expository text structures.

To increase ELLs comprehension of non-fiction expository text, teachers need to provide:

1. explicit instruction on how expository text is structured.

2. models of "what good readers do" to get information from expository text.

3. opportunities for practice so that ELLs can identify and interact with the text

4. opportunities for peer interaction with the content of the text in order to increase comprehension.

Let's look at these steps in more detail:

1. Provide explicit instruction on how expository text is structured.

Teachers need to spend some time introducing students to the format of expository text. This is a lesson intended to teach students how to get information from non-fiction text rather than on the actual content of the text. That instruction can be done once students are familiar with the text format and structure.

Help students recognize the structure of expository text. Introduce the various parts of the text, such as the table of contents and the glossary. Discuss how these different parts are used for informational reading, how the text is organized, where different parts will be found in a textbook, and how they compare with one another.

For example, have students compare the index and the glossary, and discuss what they would use each section for. You might try asking a question such as, "If I want to know the definition of a word, will I look in the index or glossary?"

Elements that are important to introduce include:

Although it may seem very obvious to teachers, something as simple as finding bold words and identifying their definition in surrounding text may be new concepts to developing readers. As students are instructed to find different components of the text, ask questions such as, "What does this graphic tell us? Why do you think the author wanted to put that there?" Make it a thinking exercise so the students will internalize the knowledge.

Chapter walk

One way to help students become familiar with new kinds of books is through a chapter walk, which can be used with fiction or non-fiction text. Students preview the chapter before starting their first lesson in a new unit, looking for headings, graphics, pictures, important words, and key information. Students can discuss what they've noticed and what they think will be covered in pairs, groups, or with the entire class. Once students have become comfortable with a new resource, this exercise can be used to preview content for future lessons and activate background knowledge.

This strategy can also be used with fiction books by using illustrations and chapter headings or important words in the text.

Types of text

For older students, teachers can spend some time helping them understand the different types of text they will encounter, such as descriptive, sequence, and cause and effect. (See examples in this document and the graphics from the U-46 School District in Elgin, Illinois, featured on Reading Rockets.)

2. Provide opportunity for ELLs to practice interacting with the text and identifying key components of the text.

Giving the students to practice these skills will build confidence and offer many learning opportunities. Practice activities can be done to demonstrate how to get information from the expository text. For example, ask students to look for the main idea of a text, and then to explain what "clues" they saw that supported their answer. Students might say things such as, "The main idea is usually in the first paragraph." Or, "I saw the summary written on the side of the page." Engaging the class in discussion about these key components will give all students a chance to demonstrate learning.

Other strategies include:

Making predictions: One method is the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA), which encourages students to be active readers. DR-TA is a process where the students listen to a brief summary of the text, review a few key words or pictures, and then make a prediction about the content of the text. As they begin to read the text, the teacher asks more questions about how their predictions match what they're reading.

Word splash: Students receive handouts with key words and phrases from the text "splashed" randomly across the page. The students spend some time making clusters of information that goes together. They can do this by circling groups of words, highlighting them in different colors, or drawing lines. The class discusses what they've learned from their clusters and what they predict they will learn from the text. Once again, when they begin to read the text they should make note of which parts of their prediction were correct and how they know that based on "evidence" in the text.

Practice highlighting: Students can practice highlighting text on worksheets or by using this method: Give each student a clear plastic overhead sheet and a "write-on/wipe-off" marker. Have the student paperclip the plastic sheet to a page in the textbook and work together to circle new vocabulary words and underline key points. The plastic sheets can be wiped off and used again.

Margin bookmark: One way to allow students to practice making notes is by using margin bookmarks. Prepare scratch paper "bookmark" strips that fit in the crease of the textbook and within the margin of the print, or that can be attached to the outside margin using a paperclip. Students can use these bookmarks to make notes in the margin. Give them specific tasks such as, "Write the definition of one of the bold words in your own words," or "Write one fact, one question, and one thing that is important for you to remember." Provide examples so that students see how they can interact effectively with expository text.

Define the important information: As evidenced by those textbooks full of highlighting I mentioned at the beginning of the article, if a student doesn't know what's important, then everything is important. I like to have the students do an activity I call "Pack the Suitcase" so that they can start identifying the most important information in the text. In order to do this activity, give the students a short text (no more than two paragraphs) and a small envelope with a picture of a suitcase drawn or glued on it. Pass out pieces of scrap paper and tell students that they need to:

1. review the text

2. write "an important point" on each piece of paper

3. "pack" them in their suitcase.

Students can use as many or as few pieces of paper as they want. When the students are finished, tell them they are going on a trip but that they packed too much - they must look in their suitcase and take out half of their items. Students will really have to decide which items (points) are most important to bring on the trip. Finally, have students "travel" to the other side of the room and sit with a partner and "unpack" the suitcases. See if they have the same points, and discuss any differences and how they identified what was important in the article.

3. Model "what good readers do" to get information from expository text.

As good readers, teachers sometimes forget how mystifying and overwhelming text can be for students. I can recall many years of math classes where I looked around at my classmates in puzzlement and wondered how they figured all the answers out! Looking at the textbook didn't help me because I didn't understand what I was looking for. I believe ELLs ofent have a similar experience, but if teachers model "what to do" when approaching expository text, ELLs will become more successful readers.

Here are some strategies to try:

Think aloud*: Read an introductory portion of the text to the class. Pause to model what you are thinking out loud, such as by describing what you know about the text. For example, a teacher may look at a chapter with a picture of a volcano and bold words in the text such as lava, magma, and geothermic. The teacher could say, "Hmmm ... I see this picture of a volcano and I notice bold vocabulary words. The words look very scientific and technical. I bet this will be a reading about science. I think I will learn facts about volcanoes and how they work."

Demonstrate how to figure out vocabulary: As you come to new vocabulary words, pause and think about how you can figure out what that word means. Show how you look for clues such as commas after the word that contain a definition, or show how the word is related to something else you know such as a root word or cognate in another language. Finally the teacher may want to demonstrate how to ask someone next to you for help with the word, or refer to your personal dictionary of new words that you've created for the unit.

Use a graphic organizer: Determine what you need to know in the text and show how to complete a graphic organizer. Talk about how the graphic organizer will help you remember the important information in the text. For example, if students need to determine the characteristics of an active volcano vs. an inactive volcano, the graphic organizer can follow a comparison outline and students fill in the correct information as related to the topic. Be sure to emphasize that this kind of activity can be used in any classroom and with any content. The student just needs to determine what they want to know and make an "organized picture" of the information so they will remember.

Model "fix up" strategies*: Proficient readers know when they "missed" something or what they are reading doesn't make sense. Developing readers tend to "just keep going" hoping that eventually it will all make sense. Of course, this makes it much more difficult to comprehend the content and it leads to frustration. Show students how you "double check" information when you don't understand it or it doesn't make sense. Read a section of the text aloud - especially a complicated portion - and stop to reflect. Say out loud, "What did I just read? That didn't make sense. Let me go back and read it again." If it still seems confusing, ask the students for ideas about how you could "check" your understanding of this information.

Determine if it's "In the Book" or "In my Head": In the Question Answer Relationship (QAR) strategy students are taught to identify if information is in the book (literal) or in their head (inferential). Teachers can demonstrate this by using questions to model how they figure that out. For example, a literal question might be, "What are three characteristics of an active volcano?" An example of an inferential question is, "Are volcanoes dangerous?" This can be a very important skill to develop because many developing readers spend a lot of time scouring the text looking for an answer that is not defined literally in the text.

*Strategies from, "7 Keys to Comprehension: How to help your kids read it and get it!" by Susan Zimmerman and Chryse Hutchins. See Hotlinks for further information.

4. Increase peer interaction with the content of the text in order to increase comprehension.

Giving students the chance to interact with their peers about new content will engage them and offer more opportunities to practice talking, writing, and thinking about what they have learned. You can do this with the following strategies:

Develop study guides to guide ELLs through content area textbook reading. Study guides will focus student attention on the major ideas presented, and can include graphic organizers as described above, key vocabulary, and guiding questions. These study guides can be very helpful in preparing for final exams and students can use them to "quiz" each other. More advanced students can develop their own study guides in partners or in groups.

Assign reading partners. Pair ELLs with friendly fluent readers. Ask partners to read aloud to each other, alternating sentences or pages. After the first student reads, the other student summarizes what they heard. Then the two partners switch roles.

Encourage student engagement. One strategy is the "Say Something" activity. Students take turns reading aloud, and following the reading, each student 'says something,' such as asking a question, making a comment, making a connection to something already read, or responding personally to the text. The exercise also engages students as readers and gets them thinking about the text. For ELLs, teachers may want to have a "phrase wall" displayed so they have a sentence structure to begin their comments. Examples such as, "That reminds me of..." Or "Do you know..." or "That's interesting because..."

Have students re-tell what they have learned. After students read a section of text, have them re-tell it to a partner or write a few summary notes in their notebook and switch notes with a partner. The partner can add notes, questions or comments to the author's notes.

For more tips on supporting reading instruction in the ELL classroom, take a look at our reading tips for teachers, as well as some reading comprehension strategies. You may also find some helpful tips from the AdLit.org Strategy Library.

Closing Thoughts

Spending time working with text structure and guiding ELLs in how to access expository content effectively will have huge benefits for your students now and in the future. Textbooks are like other classroom tools, such as microscopes or computers. Without the proper introduction and practice, the student will only get a fraction of the information the teacher hopes they will gain. As teachers work with students to discover the secrets to using expository text for learning, they will be rewarded by deeper discussions and learning in the classroom. Most importantly, having learned these strategies, your students will be equipped to interact with a multitude of academic texts throughout the rest of their education.
Text Features: Non-Fiction Printed Page vs. Website Format
This chart from ReadWriteThink.org gives students a reference for comparing non-fiction textbook or printed material to website content features.
Colorín Colorado Webcast: Reading to Learn in Grades 4-6
This Colorín Colorado webcast features Dr. Nonie Lesaux, and addresses the challenges facing English language learners - and their teachers - in grades 4-6.
Colorín Colorado Webcast: ELL Comprehension
This webcast featuring Dr. Cynthia Lundgren and Kristina Robertson discusses effective reading comprehension strategies for teaching English language learner students.
Colorín Colorado: How to Help ELL Students Leap to Success
This article offers suggestions for helping teachers guide ELLs through the critical transition between third and fourth grade.
AdLit.org: Strategy Library
This resource offers comprehensive list of strategies for each phase of the comprehension lesson - before, during, and after reading.
West Ed: Reading Apprenticeship Framework
Website for the Reading Apprenticeship Framework that describes the elements of the framework and includes links to articles.
Text-Mapping Project
Step-by-step lesson plan on how to map text with students.
What's Special About Non-fiction?
This lesson plan from Scholastic offers ideas about ways to introduce students to nonfiction texts.
Time for Kids
Time for Kids offers a great range of informational text for different grade levels and related activities.
Education Oasis: Graphic Organizers for Vocabulary Development
Links to vocabulary development graphic organizers.
Vocabulary Activity: Prediction and Confirmation
An activity for vocabulary prediction and confirmation featured on the Florida Center for Instructional Technology website.

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Increasing ELL Student Reading Comprehension with Non-fiction Text

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Kids need to be able to learn to read text for meaning … (and ask themselves) “Do I know why I’m reading this? Do I know what information I’m looking for?” … We’re always delivering the curriculum in a way that draws on language and reading skills. — Dr. Nonie LesauxDo you remember buying used textb…

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Activities/Accommodations for English Language Learners (ELLs) 

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Activities/Accommodations for English Language Learners (ELLs) 

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Finding the main idea and supporting details is a reading comprehension skill that students are expected to understand starting in kindergarten. By third grade, students are expected to do this with more complex texts independently. This can be a challenging skill for all students. For some ELLs, they have the added challenge of not yet reading grade level texts independently. Here are 5 ideas to support students learning about main idea and supporting details.

Sorting

One simple way to introduce main idea and details is to have students sort words or pictures into categories. Have students come up with categories for each group and then an overall category for all of the groups. You can scaffold this activity by having the categories already available.

I created a set of main idea puzzles using a similar idea. In the center is the main idea (category) and the surrounding pieces are pictures that show the details.

Use Short Reading Passages

When students are practicing main idea and supporting details, it is helpful to give them repeated practice. Short reading passages allow them to identify the main idea and details in a text multiple times. For students that are reading below grade level you can either read the text out loud to them or use simple text that has this skill. It is good to give ELLs exposure both to text that they can read independently and grade level text.

Use Wordless Picture Books
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click on an Amazon link and make a purchase. This does not cost you any extra money.
Wordless picture books are a great opportunity for students to practice speaking and/or writing skills as they are also learning about main idea. Using a wordless book gives student a chance to incorporate creativity into coming up with a main idea. As long as they can find supporting details, it is possible for there to be different ideas of what the main idea is. Students can work with a partner or in a small group to come up with the main idea and details of the story. I recommend first having the students look at the pictures and tell what is happening before having them try to come up with what the main idea is.

Some books to try out are:

I Walk with Vanessa: A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness - A girl faces bullying in her new school and another child learns how to help.

Pool - This book shows two children that are overwhelmed at a crowded pool. They find a place to escape through their imaginations.

Cut apart sentences

Cutting apart sentences gives students a hands on way to practice identifying main idea and details. Students read each sentence. First, they decide if it is the main idea. Then, they find the sentences that support that main idea. You can scaffold this activity by showing students the main idea and only having them find the details. This activity is one that you can create on your own by cutting apart sentences from a written paragraph to practice main idea and details.

I have a set of main idea task cards that would work well for this activity. Another place to find passages is on ReadWorks.

Use Sticky Notes

For longer texts, or those that you do not want to cut apart, sticky notes are a great way for students to record where the main idea and details are. Depending on students age and writing levels, you can either have them use full size sticky notes or smaller strips. They write down the main idea on one color. They they write the details on a different color. After that, they place the sticky note on the text where they found it. You can do a similar activity with sticky note strips. Students only mark where they find the main idea and/or supporting details. You can limit the amount of details students mark by giving a finite number of sticky notes to each student.

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5 Ways to Teach Main Idea and Details to ELLs - A World of Language Learners

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Finding the main idea and supporting details is a reading comprehension skill that students are expected to understand starting in kindergarten. By third grade, students are expected to do this with more complex texts independently. This can be a challenging skill for all students.

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Activities/accommodations for learners with special needs 

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By: Texas Education Agency

General instructional activities

To correspond with a typical reading lesson, comprehension strategy instruction can be organized into a three-part framework, with specific activities used before, during, and after reading.

Providing instruction such as the following example allows students to see, learn, and use a variety of comprehension strategies as they read. Note, however, that the framework is a general one and represents an array of strategies. All of the strategies in this framework do not have to be used with every text or in every reading situation.

Before Reading

Before reading, the teacher may:

Motivate students through activities that may increase their interest (book talks, dramatic readings, or displays of art related to the text), making the text relevant to students in some way.

Activate students' background knowledge important to the content of the text by discussing what students will read and what they already know about its topic and about the text organization.

Students, with some help from the teacher, may:

Establish a purpose for reading.

Identify and discuss difficult words, phrases, and concepts in the text.

Preview the text (by surveying the title, illustrations, and unusual text structures) to make predictions about its content.

Think, talk, and write about the topic of the text.

During Reading

During reading, the teacher may:

Remind students to use comprehension strategies as they read and to monitor their understanding.

Ask questions that keep students on track and focus their attention on main ideas and important points in the text.

Focus attention on parts in a text that require students to make inferences.

Call on students to summarize key sections or events.

Encourage students to return to any predictions they have made before reading to see if they are confirmed by the text.

Students, with some help from the teacher, may:

Determine and summarize important ideas and supportive details.

Make connections between and among important ideas in the text.

Integrate new ideas with existing background knowledge.

Ask themselves questions about the text.

Sequence events and ideas in the text.

Offer interpretations of and responses to the text.

Check understanding by paraphrasing or restating important and/or difficult sentences and paragraphs.

Visualize characters, settings, or events in a text.

After Reading

After reading, the teacher may:

Guide discussion of the reading.

Ask students to recall and tell in their own words important parts of the text.

Offer students opportunities to respond to the reading in various ways, including through writing, dramatic play, music, readers' theatre, videos, debate, or pantomime.

Students, with some help from the teacher, may:

Evaluate and discuss the ideas encountered in the text.

Apply and extend these ideas to other texts and real life situations.

Summarize what was read by retelling the main ideas.

Discuss ideas for further reading.

Activities and procedures for use with narrative texts

The following are some examples of specific procedures that you can use to help students improve their comprehension of narrative texts.

Retelling

Retelling involves having students orally reconstruct a story that they have read.

Retelling requires students to activate their knowledge of how stories work and apply it to the new reading. As part of retelling, students engage in ordering and summarizing information and in making inferences. The teacher can use retelling as a way to assess how well students comprehend a story, then use this information to help students develop a deeper understanding of what they have read.

The teacher uses explicit instruction, explaining why retelling is useful, modeling the procedure, giving students opportunities to practice, and providing feedback. As the following chart shows, students' retellings should become more detailed as they become better readers.

Types of Retelling

Simple retelling
The student can:

identify and retell the beginning, middle, and end of a story in order.

describe the setting.

identify the problem and the resolution of a problem.

More complete retelling
The student can:

identify and retell events and facts in a sequence.

make inferences to fill in missing information.

identify and retell causes of actions or events and their effects.

Most complete retelling
The student can:

identify and retell a sequence of actions or events.

make inferences to account for events or actions.

ffer an evaluation of the story.

Story Maps

Story maps are visual representations of the elements that make up a narrative. The purpose of a story map is to help students focus on the important elements of narratives-theme, characters, settings, problems, plot events, and resolution-and on the relationship among those elements.

Story maps to be used with younger students can be very simple-like the one that follows. These maps focus on a single element, such as the sequence of a simple plot.

With older students, the maps can be more complicated, focusing on several elements. As with retellings, the teacher uses explicit instruction to introduce the procedure, explaining why story maps are useful, then modeling the procedure, giving students opportunities to practice, and providing feedback.

Story Frames¹

Similar to story maps, story frames are visual representations that focus students' attention on the structure of a story and on how the content of the story fits its structure.

Students use story frames as a way to activate their background knowledge of the elements of story structure and thus to organize and learn new information from a story. Simple story frames require students to provide basic information about the sequence of events in a story:

The problem in the story is ______.
This is a problem because ______.
The problem is solved when ______.
In the end ______.

More complex frames might involve having students supply more detailed information by summarizing sequences of actions or events, or providing factual information to explain problems or motivations.

The procedure encourages students to interact with each other, asking questions, seeking clarifications, and sharing evaluations. Again, as with story maps, the procedure can be simplified for use with younger students - it has been used successfully with grade-one students *- or made more sophisticated for use with older students.

And again, as with the other procedures that have been described, the procedure is introduced through explicit instruction, with the teacher first explaining why story frames are useful, then modeling when and where to use them, guiding students through practice opportunities, and providing corrective feedback along the way.

Directed Reading and Thinking Activity (DRTA)²

This procedure focuses on reading as a thinking process. Its intent is to teach children to make predictions throughout reading. Before reading, the teacher asks students to form a purpose for reading and to make predictions about the content of the story to be read.

During reading, the teacher stops students at strategic points in the story to ask students to make additional predictions and to verify, reject, or modify their purposes and predictions.

After reading, the teacher asks students to find and read aloud any part of the text that supports their predictions. Students must use the text to explain their reasoning and to prove the accuracy-or inaccuracy-of their predictions.

Often teachers have students use charts such as the following to record their predictions and information from the text that proves the prediction's accuracy:

Activities and procedures for use with expository text

The following are some procedures teachers use to help students improve their comprehension of expository texts.

The purpose of the K-W-L procedures is to help students become good readers by learning to do the things that good readers do. Specifically it helps students learn to activate their background knowledge and to set purposes for reading.

KWL stands for determining What I Know, What I Want to Learn, and reviewing What I Have Learned. The following chart shows the steps in each part of the procedure:

What I Know

What I Want To Learn

What I Learned

Students discuss what they already know about a topic in the text they will be reading. The teacher has students list ideas and concepts related to the topic, then has them organize their ideas into broad categories.

Students discuss what they want to learn from reading the text and write down specific questions that they think may be answered in the text.

After reading the text, students discuss what they learned from it. They next write what they learned and answer s t u d e n t - g e n e r a t e d questions about topics that were addressed in the text.

As they confirm the information in the Know column of the chart, students relate new information gained from their reading to knowledge they already have. As they generate questions for the Want column, they learn to set their own purposes for reading. Further, because they are reading to answer their own questions, students are more likely actively to monitor their comprehension. By putting information in their own words for the Learned column, students better understand what they know and what they do not know. Proceeding through these steps reinforces students' learning from text, involves them in doing what good readers do, and teaches them about their own reading processes.

Questioning the Author⁴

The Questioning the Author procedure involves discussion, strategy instruction, and self-explanation. It encourages students to reflect on what the author of a selection is trying to say so as to build a mental representation from that information. Teacher and students work collaboratively, reading to resolve confusion and to understand the meaning of the text.

Focusing on a segment of text, the students respond to teacher questions such as the following:

What is the author trying to say?

What does the author mean by this?

o Why is the author saying this?

What is the author getting at?

Through modeling, the teacher helps students to understand that some parts of a text can cause confusion and hinder comprehension. The teacher then discusses with students what they can do when comprehension problems occur. Students learn to "grapple" with text by emulating the teacher's questioning techniques.

Reciprocal Teaching⁵

Reciprocal Teaching is the name for a teaching procedure that is best described as a dialogue between the teacher and students. "Reciprocal" means simply that each person involved in the dialogue acts in response to the others. The dialogue focuses on a segment of a text the group is reading and is structured by the use of four comprehension strategies:

asking questions,

clarifying difficult words and ideas,

summarizing what has been read, and

predicting what might come next.

The teacher first models and explains how to apply a comprehension strategy, then gradually turns over the activity to the students. As the students become more competent, the teacher requires their participation at increasingly more challenging levels.

Reciprocal Teaching provides students with opportunities to observe the value of applying strategies in their "real" reading. In addition, it allows the teacher to identify problems individual students might have in using strategies and to provide instruction that is geared to individual needs.

Transactional Strategy Instruction⁶

Transactional Strategy Instruction (TSI) is a procedure that involves teaching students to construct meaning as they read by emulating good readers' use of comprehension strategies.

TSI helps students (1) set goals and plan for reading, (2) use background knowledge and text cues to construct meaning during reading, (3) monitor comprehension, (4) solve problems encountered during reading, and (5) evaluate progress. To accomplish these tasks, students are taught to use a set of reading strategies. The strategies typically include:

predicting based on prior-knowledge activation,

generating and asking questions,

clarifying,

visualizing,

relating background knowledge to text content, and

summarizing.

Instruction occurs in small-group settings, with the strategies used as vehicles to coordinate dialogue about text as students read aloud. In their groups, students are encouraged to relate a text to their background knowledge, to summarize text, to describe any mental images they make during reading, and to predict what might happen next in the text. As students read aloud, they engage in and exchange individual interpretations of and responses to the reading.

The I-Chart Procedure⁷

The I-Chart Procedure is a technique that promotes critical thinking by encouraging students to apply reading strategies to learn from content-area texts.

The procedure is organized into three phases: Planning, Interacting, Integrating and Evaluating. Students begin the Planning phase by using content-area texts to identify a topic of study. They then generate questions they want to answer as they read. Next, they construct a large chart, similar to the following, on which to record information as they gather it. They complete the Planning phase by collecting materials about the topic.

Teacher Questions and Student Questions

In the Interacting phase, students record their background knowledge of the topic, as well as other information they might gather. In addition, the teacher elicits and records relevant student questions. Finally, the students read and discuss, with teacher guidance, the sources of information.

In the final phase, Integrating and Evaluating, students make summaries for each question on the chart, incorporating information they have gathered. Next, they compare their summaries with background knowledge, clarify statements as necessary, and discuss new knowledge they have acquired. Finally, they locate new information to address any unanswered questions and report their findings to the group.

In this procedure, the teacher directs and models the phases of the procedure. Gradually, however, the teacher releases responsibility for managing the procedure to students. The goal is for the reader to satisfactorily apply these comprehension strategies independently.
References
References

Click the "References" link above to hide these references.

1. Cudd, E.T., & Roberts, L.L. (1987). Using story frames to develop reading comprehension in a first grade classroom The Reading Teacher, 41, 75-79.

2. Stauffer, R.G. (1975). Directing the reading-thinking process. New York: Harper & Row.

3. Ogle, D.M. (1986). K-W-L: A teaching model that develops active reading of expository text. The Reading Teacher, 39, 564-570. and Ogle, D.M. (1989). The know, want to know, learn strategy. In K.D. Muth (Ed.), Children's comprehension of text: Research into practice (pp. 205-233). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

4. Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., Hamilton, R.L., & Kucan, L. (1997). Questioning the author: An approach for enhancing student engagement with text. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

5. Palincsar, A. S., & Brown, A. L. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension fostering and comprehension-monitoring activities. Cognition and Instruction, 2, 117-175.

6. Brown, R., & Coy-Ogan, L. (1993). The Evolution of transactional strategies instruction in one teacher's classroom. The Elementary School Journal, 94, 221-233; Pressley, M., El-Dinary, P.B., Gaskins, I., Schuder, T., Bergman, J., Almasi, L., & Brown, R. (1992). Beyond direct explanation: Transactional instruction of reading comprehension strategies. The Elementary School Journal, 92, 511-554.

7. Hoffman, J.V. (1992). Critical reading / thinking across the curriculum: Using I-Charts to support learning. Language Arts, 69, 121-127. Language Arts, 69, 121-127.

References

1. Cudd, E.T., & Roberts, L.L. (1987). Using story frames to develop reading comprehension in a first grade classroom The Reading Teacher, 41, 75-79.

2. Stauffer, R.G. (1975). Directing the reading-thinking process. New York: Harper & Row.

3. Ogle, D.M. (1986). K-W-L: A teaching model that develops active reading of expository text. The Reading Teacher, 39, 564-570. and Ogle, D.M. (1989). The know, want to know, learn strategy. In K.D. Muth (Ed.), Children's comprehension of text: Research into practice (pp. 205-233). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

4. Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., Hamilton, R.L., & Kucan, L. (1997). Questioning the author: An approach for enhancing student engagement with text. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

5. Palincsar, A. S., & Brown, A. L. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension fostering and comprehension-monitoring activities. Cognition and Instruction, 2, 117-175.

6. Brown, R., & Coy-Ogan, L. (1993). The Evolution of transactional strategies instruction in one teacher's classroom. The Elementary School Journal, 94, 221-233; Pressley, M., El-Dinary, P.B., Gaskins, I., Schuder, T., Bergman, J., Almasi, L., & Brown, R. (1992). Beyond direct explanation: Transactional instruction of reading comprehension strategies. The Elementary School Journal, 92, 511-554.

7. Hoffman, J.V. (1992). Critical reading / thinking across the curriculum: Using I-Charts to support learning. Language Arts, 69, 121-127. Language Arts, 69, 121-127.

Comprehension Instruction, 16-24. Retrieved from http://www.netxv.net/pm_attach/67/TRI-Comprehension_Instr.pdf.

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LD OnLine is the leading website on learning disabilities, learning disorders and differences. Parents and teachers of learning disabled children will find authoritative guidance on attention deficit disorder, ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dysnomia, reading difficulties, speech and related disorders.

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Activities/accommodations for learners with special needs 

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Activities/accommodations for learners with special needs 

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(This post is part of our Fair is Not Always Equal...Now What? blog series.)

As many of our posts have emphasized this year, designing your lessons using the UDL framework goes a long way toward meeting each of your students' specific learning needs. But in a diverse, inclusive classroom, some students will also need accommodations and modifications to access the curriculum and express what they know. Today's post gives you 17 practical tips from some of our expert authors. These won't work for every child-uncovering a learner's individual strengths and needs is always your first step-but they're helpful ideas to add to your toolbox and use with the learners who can benefit from them.

[Not sure about the difference between accommodations and modifications? Start by reading Tuesday's Q&A with inclusion expert Nicole Eredics, who shares the clearest definitions we've heard.]

1. Break tasks into smaller steps. For independent work time, post a to-do list on the student's desk (in words or pictures) of the big tasks that need to be completed. The student can complete them and cross out each task.

2. Extend time on tasks. Slowly increase the time allotted for certain tasks, or allow the student to take a test in parts-one part on the first day, the second part on the next.

3. Reduce the amount of information on a page. Adequate white space and a clean, distraction-free layout can make an assignment seem less confusing. Copy segments of an assignment onto different pages to increase white space. Students can also hold index cards or word windows on the page to limit information as they read.

4. Preteach. Introduce a concept, term, or idea to a student before it's "officially" taught to the rest of the class. This can help the student start the class feeling prepared and more confident.

5. Let students choose their writing instruments and paper size. Instead of traditional pencils and full-size sheets of paper, offer choices. For example, one student chose a black felt-tip marker and a half-sheet of paper. He explained that he often got nervous if he saw "a whole blank piece of paper" in front of him, and that he hated "the feel of the pencil on the paper." Changing up his writing materials proved to be a successful strategy-after making the switch, the student was able to write for longer periods of time.

6. Use a timer. Some students need help organizing their time or perform better when they know exactly how long tasks will take. Using visual timers is a great accommodation strategy to support these students. Timers that allow the student to see how many minutes are left can be particularly useful for managing time.

7. Use guided notes. Develop handouts to help students take notes. Create an outline of the lesson and replace key terms and facts with blanks that students can fill in as they listen to your presentation.

8. Provide test-time helpers. Try modification strategies like adding picture cues to test items, highlighting important words in the directions or questions, providing an example for each type of test item, reducing the number of alternatives for multiple-choice items, and letting the student circle the answer rather than write the letter.

9. Make an on-the-spot adaptations toolkit. Get a sturdy, reusable container such as a clipboard storage case and assemble your own toolkit for making creative adaptations. Some items you might include: peel-off address labels, sticky notes, lined paper, laminating sheets, index cards, colored cardstock, felt-tip markers, pencils, erasers, highlighters, pencil sharpener, three-hole punch, assorted paper clips and rubber bands, small stapler, glue stick, tape, scissors, dice, and batteries.

Let students use signals to answer questionsGive students cards, signs, or other items they can use to respond to your questions during class discussions. You can make response cards that are preprinted with answer choices, or equip students with small dry-erase boards and markers they can use to write their own responses and hold them up when it's time to answer questions. (Hint: orphaned socks make great whiteboard erasers!)

1. Rock the vote. Pose verbal yes-no or multiple choice questions to encourage all students to respond more during group instruction. Students can vote with thumbs-up/thumbs-down signals or hold up colored index cards to indicate their answer (e.g., yellow for a, white for b, and green for c). This is a great way to facilitate more participation for nonverbal learners and students who are anxious or shy.

2. Allow students to access text differently. Make modifications to the text itself-shorten the amount of text, reduce the number of vocabulary words, or simplify sentence structures. Or keep the text intact and provide accommodations such as text-to-speech books or audiobooks, highlighted text, or hyperlinks to vocabulary definitions.

3. Use technology to evaluate text and make it more accessible. A few easy tools in Microsoft Word can help you make text more readable and accessible. AutoSummarize can summarize key points in your reading material, and Readability Statistics can count the number of words and paragraphs, average the number of characters in a word or number of sentences in a paragraph, and calculate the readability of the text you're giving your students. You can also use text-to-speech functions (available in many word processing programs) to enable text to be read aloud.

4. Assign and prepare peer tutors. It can be difficult for a general education teacher to work individually with children with disabilities while also meeting the needs of the whole class. To provide additional support, peers without disabilities can be taught how to provide extra help for their classmates. Peer tutoring not only provides increased practice and reinforcement for students with disabilities, but also promotes stronger social skills for all students and encourages friendships.

Help students stay on task with Countdown Strips. Many students, especially those with autism and ADHD, will find it easier to stay on task if an activity has a clear and observable endpoint. Use a Countdown Strip for them-a visual support that allows students to count down how many times they must complete an activity or how many parts the activity has. Countdown Strips are easy to make; they can be as simple as a clothespin and a strip of paper printed with the numbers 0 to 10. Each time an activity or a section of the activity is completed, the student moves the clothespin to the next number until the he or she reaches 0.

Eliminate distractions to improve focus. Reducing the presence of extraneous noises, people, or objects can help students with disabilities focus on important instructional cues. To help students maintain focus, position them so they're facing away from distractions and hold off on introducing items or equipment you won't be using until later. For example, in a physical education class, balloons and cones set up for a later activity might be extremely distracting for some students. Avoid setting up equipment for activities beforehand, or keep the materials covered with a tarp until they're needed.

Tell a "fair is not always equal" story. When you implement suggestions like the ones outlined in this post, some of your students might ask questions like "if Jimmy gets extra time on the math test, why can't we?" Tell them a story to illustrate the why behind modifications and accommodations. For example, one teacher told a vivid, engaging story about a mother who had seven children, all of whom had different strengths and needs. Because the mom didn't want to be unfair to any of her children, all seven of them had to take tap dancing lessons, join the swim team, use an inhaler for asthma, wear glasses, watch basketball, and read only fiction books-no nonfiction allowed! By the end of the story, the students were laughing about the absurdity of it all. To drive the point home, the teacher explained that supports and services are provided to meet the specific learning needs of students, whether that means assisting a student with a broken arm or accommodating a documented disability. Through the story and the teacher's explanation, the students began to understand the real meaning of "fairness"-and trust that their teacher would do a great job meeting the needs of everyone in the class.

What are some favorite accommodations and modifications you've used? Tell us in the comments below!

Credits: Suggestions #1-6 from The Educator's Handbook for Effective Inclusive Practices by Julie Causton; #7-11 from by Janney & Snell; #12-13 from Maximizing Effectiveness of Reading Comprehension Instruction in Diverse Classrooms by Berkeley & Barber, #14-16 from A Teacher's Guide to Including Students with Disabilities in General Physical Education, Fourth Edition, by Martin E. Block; #17 from by Winterman & Rosas, all from Brookes Publishing Co.
10 Worst Modifications for Students with Disabilities (and 100+ Good Ones!)
Accommodations and Modifications: A How-To Q&A with Nicole Eredics of the Inclusive Class

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17 Great Accommodations & Modifications - Brookes Blog

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(This post is part of our Fair is Not Always Equal...Now What? blog series.) As many of our posts have emphasized this year, designing your lessons using the UDL framework goes a long way toward meeting each of your students' specific learning needs. But in a diverse, inclusive classroom, some students will also need [...]

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Activities/accommodations for learners with special needs 

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Effective Reading Interventions for Kids with Learning Disabilities

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Research-based information and advice for sizing up reading programs and finding the right one for your child with a learning disability.

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Activities for remediation if initial teaching needs support/reteaching

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Activities for remediation if initial teaching needs support/reteaching

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What to Do When Students Struggle

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| | Filed Under: Guided Reading, Reading

Teaching 4th and 5th grade reading is not easy! The standards begin to get really tricky and the gap between what the students should be able to do in reading and what they can do can be pretty wide. One of the those standards that is tricky is theme. On this post, I will share some tips to help you teach theme to your 4th and 5th graders, including what students should know before you begin instruction, all the theme subskills that really increase the rigor, and specific instructional strategies that you can do when students struggle.

Pre-Requisite Standards Before Teaching Theme

To teach theme, make sure you have taught or the students have a working knowledge of:
* Story Elements... how to identify and describe them

* What a summary of a story is - they don't have to be perfect at writing detailed ones (summary is honestly a skill we work on all year) but they should understand that a summary retells the important story elements as they relate to that specific story

Theme Skills Students Need to Master

I have been guilty of being too surface level with my instruction of theme in the past. In my first years teaching, I rarely moved beyond a basic instruction of themes and the ability to identify them.

Now, I know better and I can help my students meet the rigor required by making sure I provide instruction beyond the basic understandings.

Here are all the subskills to really teach theme to the rigor most states require:

* What themes are

* How themes are different from summaries

* How to identify a possible theme of a multi-paragraph story (including more variety and advanced themes other than basic ones like Never Give Up)

* How to prove the theme they chose using relevant details from the story and what different (and advanced) details to look for (dialogue, internal monologue, a character's action or lack of action, a character's motivation, a character response to a challenge, events and outcomes)

* How to determine multiple themes that a story may have (and how to prove them both or critique which is better developed using details from both)

* The ability to find a common theme that two (or more) stories share
*If a skill above is not required of your students, these are great skills for enrichment and advancing your students.
* How to compare and contrast how each story demonstrated the common theme (and maybe even critique which one did it better)

Tips for Students Who Struggle Understanding Theme

If students struggle understanding and determining a theme, reteach these skills or check these for understanding:

* Understanding a given moral at the end of folktale and how it matches/connects to the story

* Being able to tell a lesson from a story that very obviously teaches a lesson...backing up and reading a few short stories that are obvious will help the students not see a story too literally

* Being able to think about how a story connects to their life or their situation...if they can't see any type of connection, a theme will probably be difficult for them to generate. Provide direct instruction on the different connections and model it but don't make it a chore. Don't make the students laboriously write about connections they make. Keep it engaging or interesting to make struggling readers want to do it...partner talk or conversation, reader's letters if you have time, a class blog of sorts, etc.

Note: Obviously basic reading comprehension of a story is required...if your students cannot do this they will likely struggle with finding the theme of a grade level text. One way to help with skill instruction is by using a lower lexile. Click here to see passages and texts written for 4th and 5th grade skills but at a 2nd/3rd grade lexile level.
Want a one-page printable version of the tips and information for teaching theme shared on this post? Click here on the image below to grab it!
Download a Printable Version

Recommended Theme Resources

If you want to make your theme instruction as easy (but meaningful and rigorous) as possible, I definitely recommend this resource.

Shop This Post
Click here or on the image above to check out the resource in my TpT Store!
It includes long texts, shorter length texts, paired texts, task cards, and more all for teaching theme. It is truly a one-stop resource! But a warning: There is too many resources included and you likely want even use them all!
Read Alouds for Teaching Theme Free Theme Activities and Resources - Grab some free printable resources to help your students dig deeper with theme and apply it to their own books on this post.
More Theme Blog Posts and Freebies

Teaching Theme - This is a blog post that I wrote several years ago after teaching theme to my students for a week. This year I had student who really struggled even understanding the concept of theme, so definitely check out this post if your students significantly struggle.

Reading Sorts - There's a free theme reading sort in this free set of reading sorts. They make a perfect re-teaching activity or reading center.

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Tips for Teaching Theme (And What To Do When Students Struggle)

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Filed Under: Guided Reading, Reading Teaching 4th and 5th grade reading is not easy! The standards begin to get really tricky and the gap between what the students should be able to do in reading and what they can do can be pretty wide. One of the those standards that is tricky is theme.

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Activities for remediation if initial teaching needs support/reteaching

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Activities for remediation if initial teaching needs support/reteaching

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| | Filed Under: Reading

In reading, we recently finished up a week long unit teaching theme, and for the first time ever, it went fabulous! As of this blog post's original date, this is my 3rd time teaching theme of literature, and to be honest, I have always struggled to find theme activities and resources to help my students really understand this tricky concept.

This year, the stars aligned and everything fell into place. Let's take a look at the different activities and resources that I used to teach theme to my fifth graders and how I sequenced the different theme activities. Spoiler Alert: I think that the sequence of how I used the theme resources was key in my students' mastery.

Theme Anchor Charts

We started off with a couple of theme anchor charts. I love using anchor charts to keep a running list of different examples of themes. I started this particular anchor chart with some common themes, and then we added to it as the students discovered more throughout the week. I really stressed how theme was a real-world connection or life-lesson, so they would understand that it was not specific to the story.

As we added more themes to the anchor chart, I still had a few students confusing themes with summaries, so we made a quick IS and IS NOT chart on the bottom of our second anchor chart.

Using Read Alouds to Teach Theme

With any reading skill or strategy that I teach, I always begin my reading instruction using read alouds (and often picture books). Using picture books is not only engaging for my 5th graders, but is also helps them initially begin to master a reading skill. Click here to read more reasons for using read alouds with 4th and 5th graders.

When they are presented a skill through something non-threatening (like a picture book) and having it read-aloud, students are able to focus on learning and applying the reading skill (versus focusing on decoding and comprehending at the same time). Click here to read more about my favorite read alouds for teaching theme.

After we went over the theme anchor chart and discussed the skill (as well as going over a few example themes), I then read 1-3 picture books (over the course of two days). Through guided practice and a lot of student discussion, we determined possible themes for the stories. We also (and this is important to do from the very beginning when teaching theme) analyzed the textual evidence that supported the theme.
The theme needs to connect to the story but it should never be specific to a story. A summary is specific to one story. A theme is a statement that you can apply to your own life or another situation that may be vastly different from what happens in the story. Want to see my recommended read alouds for teaching theme? Click here or on the image below.
Finally, we also made sure we discussed how the themes of the stories I read were different from the summaries of the stories. I always use this language when discussing this part with my students.

Identifying Theme Practice

Once we were finished with our read-alouds, we began practicing theme using shorter texts and typically using texts found on task cards. I use two sets of theme task cards in my instruction and these task cards during the initial introduction.

Part of the success of my theme instruction is allowing my students numerous opportunities to read stories and analyze the theme of those stories. Theme task cards work perfectly for this because they are shorter and the students can read more and get more practice (versus only reading long passages for practice).

When reading these shorter stories as a class, we made sure that we not only identified the theme of the story, but also provided sufficient textual evidence to support that theme. We also wrote down any additional themes that the stories also had.

Small Group Theme Practice

Teacher-Led Group for Re-Teaching Theme

Midway through the week, I had my eye on those struggling students and knew I needed to get them in a small group before we moved on to passages that were longer in length. The biggest problem that they had was not fully understanding what a theme was and how that theme related to a story. They were constantly confusing theme with summary.

To support the students and re-teach theme, I began with a pictorial representation sort instead of stories. We looked at pictures that represented common themes. We discussed what was going on in the picture and connected that to a story.

After analyzing the content of the picture, I asked them what life-lesson they could learn from the picture. Then we connected life-lesson back to theme. Using the language of "life-lesson" and then connecting that back to theme was helpful for the students for sure. Finally, we looked for the card that contained a theme that best represented the picture.

We continued sorting the pictorial representation of the theme with the theme itself while I asked guiding questions and connected what they were doing to what they would do with a story.

Here are the pictorial representation cards that I used. {These are available in my Teaching Theme: Differentiated Unit.}

After practicing with the pictorial sort, the students were ready to apply this to short stories. I used my Theme Reading Puzzles for this part. The stories on these theme puzzles are shorter than those found on task cards, so we were able to practice the skill of identifying theme various times even in the short time-frame.

Theme Reading Centers

In the other theme center, the students wrote short stories with a theme of their choosing from our chart or choosing a theme from a set of cards included in the reading center. They loved this theme activity because it allowed them to be creative. When they were finished writing their stories, they were able to switch with partners and practice identifying theme of each other's stories. This theme activity is also available in my Theme Resource found on TPT.

Identifying Theme with Lengthy Stories

After all of this, my students were finally ready to tackle a longer story and discover the theme. To make it interesting (and a little more engaging - I try to add in a small amount of novelty anytime I can), I also gave them an interactive notebook to go with the story. The students read a story from my Teaching Theme Unit, answered the question about theme, and then completed the interactive notebook template for their notebooks.

Here is the interactive notebook template that we used. Super simple but the students loved the variety and change from the norm. Click here or on the image below to download the free interactive notebook template for finding theme of a text.

The students did a fabulous job with their first lengthy text! However, I know that if I would have started the unit with long passages instead of the read alouds and task cards, I would not have had so much success.

We finished the week with a few more long passages (There are four lengthier passages in my Theme Unit as well as five others that are about the same length or a little longer than those found on task cards.) Then we finally took a quick assessment to wrap up the skill, which all of my students mastered. I strongly believe my students mastered theme so quickly because of the sequence of instruction and the built-in reteaching with the various theme activities.
If you are need of theme activities and stories, this Teaching Theme resource includes the following:
My Go-To Resource for Teaching Theme
Click here or on the image below to see the Teaching Theme resource in my TPT store.

Teaching Posters and Essential Questions

Graphic Organizers, Interactive Notebook Template, and Scoring Resources (a Rubric and Student Checklist).

Three Sets of Passages (Five Short Stories, Four Longer Stories, and Two Paired Stories)

Theme Task Cards

Theme Small Group Activities

What are your favorite activities for teaching theme? Let me know in the comments!

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Teaching Theme in the Upper Grades and a FREEBIE! - Teaching with Jennifer Findley

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Filed Under: Reading In reading, we recently finished up a week long unit teaching theme, and for the first time ever, it went fabulous! As of this blog post's original date, this is my 3rd time teaching theme of literature, and to be honest, I have always struggled to find theme activities and resources to help my students really understand this tricky concept.

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Activities for remediation if initial teaching needs support/reteaching

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Activities for remediation if initial teaching needs support/reteaching

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Thematic Triads

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Theme is slippery. As with irony, we know it when we see it, and though it's easier to define than irony, it still poses a challenge for students. Discussions of theme, then, can be times when students feel they're not up to the challenge of literary analysis-and this is true particularly for students who tend to struggle with reading and writing.

This presents ELA educators with a challenge, since students as early as fourth grade are asked to identify and analyze themes in text.

So what is a teacher to do? How can we teach our students about theme in such a way that we're not skipping over reading comprehension, insisting on a "correct" answer, or unintentionally doing the heavy lifting for our students?

Over the course of more than a decade in the classroom, I developed a methodology for empowering students with a process for not only identifying a text's thematic components but also constructing original thematic arguments.

Thematic Triads

The first thing students need to know is that, generally, works of literature are about ideas that are larger than the actions or events involving the characters, and very often these ideas pop up over and over again. One place to start with thematic analysis is to create ever-growing lists of these ideas, called thematic components-love, revenge, and so on.

The process I came to call thematic triads boils down to this: Have students identify many thematic components in a text, put them into groups of three, turn one of these triads into a sentence, and voilà, they have an original thematic argument.

This gives students a systematic process for identifying thematic components and thematic statements, a process that enables them to build their skills, and one that shifts analyzing theme away from something intimidating to something that is doable.

But what does this actually look like? The process starts with a definition of a thematic component-a large idea present within a text-and a brainstormed list of some common thematic components: love and revenge, as mentioned above, but also power, greed, freedom, corruption, fate, free will, ambition, lust, violence, youth, family, pain, fear, etc. The list of possibilities is probably endless.

It's very useful to have anchor charts with lists of these ideas in classrooms so that students can, as they read, refer to the charts and identify thematic components as they arise in texts. As students read, they can transfer these thematic components to the inside back cover of their book, for instance, ensuring that the themes are always at hand and student-generated.

The next step in the process is to turn these thematic component lists into groups of three, or triads. When beginning this process, it's important to emphasize that there are not correct and incorrect triads, and that the goal is not to find a single correct thematic statement. This can empower students, particularly those who have struggled in ELA classrooms in the past. Let students know that it can be highly instructive to choose a triad at random, see whether it works or not, and then try again.

An Example of a Thematic Triad

For the sake of illustration, let's imagine that we're reading Animal Farm with students, and that a classroom discussion surfaces these thematic components: power, greed, freedom, corruption, law, and camaraderie. Students might decide to group together greed, freedom, and corruption.

The final step is to turn the triad into a sentence-the thematic statement. Students often struggle with this, wondering in particular how to start. I would advise them to start each sentence with the word when, and think of the thematic statement as running along the lines of "When this happens, then that happens." This is a great time to model a think-aloud strategy that gets students to see and hear how a scholar goes about using this process to identify theme.

Let's take a look at what a thematic statement for Animal Farm might look like, using the triad that students chose. One possibility: "When one's greed overtakes one's desire for freedom, it can lead to corruption."

This may not be the most insightful, original thematic statement in the world, and in all likelihood the first few times students go through this exercise, they will struggle and not be satisfied. That's good-it means they're invested in the process and will try again, and improve every time they try.

What all of this requires of teachers is a thorough, insightful, and nuanced understanding of any text they're teaching. We cannot stay one chapter ahead of our students and expect to guide them to an authentic level of analysis-we need to know what thematic components are located in the text, and which thematic statements are viable and which are not. In short, we must be the literary scholars we are grooming our students to be.

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Theme is slippery. As with irony, we know it when we see it, and though it's easier to define than irony, it still poses a challenge for students. Discussions of theme, then, can be times when students feel they're not up to the challenge of literary analysis-and this is true particularly for students who tend to struggle with reading and writing.

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The free slideshow above can help you teach your 3rd grade, 4th grade, or 5th grade students how to determine the theme of a story. It includes short reading passages where students have to choose the best theme, activities to help students practice distinguishing between the theme and main idea, and writing activities to reinforce what students have learned.

This slideshow is best used for practice after students have already been introduced to the theme.

If you are looking for activities to introduce theme or if your students are really struggling, check out these activities and ideas to help you teach theme.

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Practice Determining the Theme - Slideshow - Teaching Made Practical

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The free slideshow above can help you teach your 3rd grade, 4th grade, or 5th grade students how to determine the theme of a story. It includes short reading passages where students have to choose the best theme, activities to help students practice distinguishing between the theme and main idea, and writing activities to reinforce what students have learned.

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Assessments to Identify Proficiency- Exit Ticket

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Assessments to Identify Proficiency- Exit Ticket

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Assessments to Identify Proficiency- 6 Ways to Assess on Theme

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Assessments to Identify Proficiency- 6 Ways to Assess on Theme

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6 Ways to Assess on Theme * The Great Books Foundation

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As the year progresses, you'll want to know if students are able to identify theme independently. Here are six suggestions for finding out if your students are "getting it." Use Annotation: Have students annotate a text with details, quotes, and other "golden lines" that highlight the theme.

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Writing With a Theme

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Teaching theme is hard. Finding games and centers that help students practice how to determine the theme of a story is even harder.

Most theme practice involves simply reading a passage and answering a multiple choice question about what the theme is. Not only can this be boring and monotonous for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students, but it is extremely unhelpful for struggling students that are unsure of how to find the theme of a passage.

Below, find 3 center/game ideas to help students practice theme in a fun and engaging way. Use these ideas to create your own theme centers for your classroom, or buy the extremely low prep version here. (Only 1 center requires prep - a little cutting.)

Theme Game/Center #1 - Theme Mazes

Mazes are a fun way to practice this skill, and they can be used in a variety of ways depending on what aspect of theme your students need practice with.

The theme mazes I have created in my Finding the Theme Games and Centers resource address two different skills.

The first 2 mazes help students practice distinguishing between a theme and a main idea. In order to complete the maze, students must shade in some possible theme statements. Students are required to think about the difference between theme and main idea in order to complete this activity successfully.

In the last 3 mazes of the resource, students are given a theme. In order to complete the mazes, students have to shade in the main ideas that could go along with the provided theme. Students must think about what stories and plots could have a certain theme.

These mazes are good way for upper elementary students to practice skills associated with theme without students having to read a lot of text.

Theme Game/Center #2 - Theme Sort

Having students sort short stories by theme is an incredibly beneficial activity for students that are struggling to determine the theme on their own.

Often, this type of game is played like a matching game, where students read a short paragraph and then have to match up the correct theme to the paragraph. This is easier to create, but not as helpful for struggling students.

Instead, create a game where only 3 - 4 themes are included. For each theme, include several short stories that have that theme. Then, have students sort the stories based on theme.

Having students think about how completely different stories can have the same theme just based on the plot and lessons learned will really help students better understand what a theme is.

Choosing themes that have similar topics, yet are different, will require students to think a little more critically about the differences between themes. For example, the sorting game that comes in my Finding the Themes Games and Centers Resource requires students to think about the themes, "Choose your friends wisely" and, "You can find friendship in unexpected places." Having two similar themes requires students to look more closely at the short stories than they would otherwise.

Theme Game/Center #3 - Writing With a Theme

One of the best ways to have students apply what they know about theme is to have them write stories with a theme! This is a rigorous activity for upper elementary students that requires little prep on the teacher's end - a win/win!

However, this can be an overwhelming task for students, especially if they don't enjoy writing. Some students will benefit from a little scaffolding instead of being given free rein. Provide students with the theme of their story, as well as ideas for characters and settings if they are having trouble coming up with their own. Then, students just have to focus on how to get the theme across.

Never Stress Over Sub Plans Again!

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Games and Centers for Teaching Theme - Teaching Made Practical

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Teaching theme is hard. Finding games and centers that help students practice how to determine the theme of a story is even harder. Most theme practice involves simply reading a passage and answering a multiple choice question about what the theme is.