Teaching Theme

Next week we are going to be focusing on the skill of theme.  I have looked high and low for some good activities for teaching this skills and never realized how challenging it would be to find things.  I have been trying to add some pizzaz to lessons that pretty much ask sstudnets to identify a feature and defend their choices using text evidence.  I found that starting lessons with video clips and images makes these tasks a lilttle more fun and can be transitioned into text.  I had a hard time finding video clips related to theme.  However, I stumbled upon this site:

They have amazing, short video clips that connect to a variety of themes.  I plan to use them to kick off my lessons next week.

I am planning to use this sheet from Beth Newingham:

and focus on these videos:

Change the World

Making A Difference

The Greatest

Optimism

Piñata

Sharing

Basketball

Sportsmanship

After viewing one of the videos, the students are going to choose a theme and record it on their note catcher.  They will then need to defend their thinking with at least two details from the video to support their thinking.  Click on the image below to download your own version of the note catcher.

To find some great picture books for teaching theme, check out my companion blog:

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