In the past, "theme" and "tone" have not been concepts that they are questioned on. I had heard that now, they will be tested, so I had already planned them into some units. (I'm sort of excited, because these are fun concepts to teach!)Sure enough, this topic was on the sample STAAR.
So, I mixed theme in with my Native American Unit. We took the book chart I posted about on Tuesday, and connected it with themes. Literally, with string...
Sorry for the iphone pics, but you get the idea..."themes are ideas threaded through literature" is what is says on the far right...
Our discussions about the themes that run through different books have been great. We have a ways to go with this topic, but it's a start!
what a great visual!! I love that they are "threaded" through.. I'll be using this! thanks!
ReplyDeleteYup saw the questions the other day. I am going to be writing a post on theme soon so check it out!
ReplyDeletemsnoren.blogspot.com
I love the idea with the threads! Here's a post that I wrote about theme last year:
ReplyDeletehttp://emilykissner.blogspot.com/2010/11/finding-theme.html
It's definitely really fun to teach. I love the way kids can find and support 3-4 different themes from the same story.
Here is a link that has most of the common themes in pretty fonts and pictures!!! Our school actually uses these!!! http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/Themes.htm
ReplyDeleteI used this activity and LOVE it! Thank you for sharing! The kids really got it and it taught them about the culture of each Native American group we have been learning about! I left you an award over on my blog!
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