Curated OER
Exploring Themes in Literature: The Oral Tradition
Are you are considering a unit on Beowulf or Superman, on myths, or tricksters? Here's a great overview you can use to launch a study of universal themes and archetypes. The focus here is on the oral tradition, but the concepts apply to...
Curated OER
Themes in To Kill a Mockingbird
Can you name the most important themes in To Kill a Mockingbird? Help your class study seven themes throughout their reading of the classic. They search for examples linking to education, bravery/cowardice, racial prejudice, social class...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature: Exploring Themes About Conformity
Feeling the pressure to confirm is something any adolescent can relate to. Explore an essential theme with a response to literature assessment that prompts learners to identify main ideas with evidence and supporting details.
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Glass Menagerie: Key Themes
Using the list of expressionist techniques generated in the first instructional activity, groups analyze how Williams uses these techniques to develop one of the play's themes. The whole class then shares and discusses the examples they...
Curated OER
Thinking About Theme
Writers use the literary element of conflict to develop their theme. Use the conflict between the Johnny and the ScreeWees in Terry Pratchett’s Only You Can Save Mankind to model how a major theme is revealed. The conflict between the...
Curated OER
Theme Matters
Fifth graders read to find the purpose of a piece of writing. They explore the theme of Bridge to Terabithia through events in the story. Furthermore, they consider how they would find a theme and examine a new text for its theme.
Curated OER
Lesson 4: Theme Matters
This useful approach to determining themes based on specific details from a book is aimed at readers of Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee. It could also easily be adapted for use with other books or readings. The class identifies recurring...
Curated OER
Deciding Theme
Read aloud to your class the fable "The Lion and the Mouse" as you explore characters' choices and the effects they have on a story. Apply what is discussed to finding a theme of the chapter "Not Giving Up" from The Wizard of Oz.
Curated OER
Lesson 3: A Poem's Theme
Leaf by Leaf: Autumn Poems by Barbara Rogasky is the foundation of this lesson plan on theme identification. Critical thinkers read three different poems from the book then attempt to find the message the author is sending her readers....
Curated OER
Literary Analysis of Theme
Remember reading "The Lottery" and "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson? Learners can experience and analyze the tension, themes, and human experience found in these pieces through reading and class discussion. They use...
Curated OER
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass Theme of Exploration
Guide your learners to develop themes in Lewis Carroll's Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Here is a handy resource that poses abundant higher-level thinking questions on topics in the books from...
Curated OER
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass Theme of Identity
Learners respond to 4 short-answer and essay questions based on themes in Alice’s Adventures Through the Looking Glass. They may also complete their choice of 3 suggested reading activities.
Curated OER
Goblin Market Theme of Sex
Learners will read then analyze the story "Goblin Market" then discuss themes of sex and lost virginity. There are 5 questions and a series related links to help them take a critical look at an interesting children's story. This story...
Curated OER
Age of Iron Theme of Race
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 4 short answer and essay questions based on the theme of race in Age of Iron. Students may also complete their choice of 3 reading activities suggested.
Curated OER
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass: Themes (For the Most Part) Quiz
Offer your learners some extra review with an online interactive reading comprehension exercise. They may respond to 5 multiple-choice questions based on the themes of Alice's Adventure in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass....
Curated OER
All Quiet on the Western Front: Themes (For the Most Part) Quiz
Incorporate this online interactive reading comprehension learning exercise into your curriculum. Learners respond to five multiple choice questions based on the themes found in All Quiet on the Western Front. They may submit their...
Curated OER
"The Great Figure": Theme of Time
Click on and read the poem "The Great Figure" by William Carlos Williams, and then answer the four short answer and essay questions based on themes therein. A link to the summary and analysis questions is also included.
Curated OER
"The Great Figure": Theme of Technology and Modernization
Learners respond to four short answer and essay questions based on themes in the poem "The Great Figure" by William Carlos Williams. The poem itself is not included, but the questions could lead to some very interesting class discussions!
K20 LEARN
A Visual Exploration Of Theme: Picture The Theme
"What is the theme of this story?" Now there's a question that can strike fear in the hearts of learners. Here's a lesson that uses photographs to introduce the concept of theme. Scholars examine six photographs and then attach a theme...
EngageNY
How Does the Author Convey Themes in Bud, Not Buddy?
After reading up to chapter 12 of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, scholars read chapter 13 and take part in a grand conversation about the author's writing techniques. Pupils discuss how his writing conveyed literary themes...
District 186 Springfield Public Schools
Tone, Mood, Theme, and Motif
It's all well and good when you're asked to identify a speaker's tone using his or her body language, facial expression, and pitch and emphasis. Identifying the tone of a written passage is another challenge entirely. Check out an...
Literacy Design Collaborative
Analyzing the Development of Theme through Pivotal Moments
Liliana Heker's "The Stolen Party" and Martha Salinas' "The Scholarship Jacket" provide sixth graders with an opportunity to identify key scenes that authors use to develop their themes.
Curated OER
Teaching "Theme" with Children's Literature
In this exercise, learners examine the difference between a theme, topic, and moral. After a class discussion on the definition of literary themes, the instructor reads The Cello of Mr. O by Jane Cutler. Next, individuals analyze the...
Curated OER
Comparing Themes
Compare and contrast the themes of two works by J.R.R. Tolkien. High schoolers read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, Then they write an essay that compares the themes found in each novel.