The only way you will ever need to teach theme
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- Опубліковано 18 кві 2014
- More on my blog: guidingontheside.blogspot.com/
Broken down into the cognitive steps, students can determine theme with the support of modeling and collaboration. This video shows the strategy for introducing the concept (even though kids in 8th grade were exposed WHAT theme is in prior years, I never assume they were taught HOW to figure it out). After doing this strategy with passing the paper and creating multiple themes, it is simply a matter of reminding students throughout the school year that in order to determine theme you just need to follow these basic steps.
This also helps for adults who either didn't get a good primary education, or just didn't pay attention. =)
true that.
I am a sophomore in college and was never taught how to find a theme in high school 13 years ago!
This video helped me a lot as I have an essay on the theme of a literary work due tomorrow morning. Thank you so much!!!
Kristine Simmonds I am so happy to help! Yay!!!! Wish you all the best in your classes!
I have struggled for years with how best to teach theme to my students! This is fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing! :D I will be using often!
This was awesome!! I shared this video with my coworkers. Many teachers think that theme is a word and you demonstrated that this is not true, topic vs. theme. Love it!
This is an amazing way to teach theme!! My students got it and LOVE it!! Thank you so much for turning on a light bulb for both my students and I!! I will use it forEVER!!
+Alberto M T will not let me reply to your comment, but I can reply to other people....odd. here is the reply: Thanks! Thesis statement is typically thought of as something in
non-fiction that is the direct statement of the author's position. Theme is
inferred in fiction. My stories don't just directly state the point! I
personally feel that teaching "love" as a theme is simplistic and not
meeting the demands of our current curriculum any more than teaching kids PIE
meets the demands of asking author's purpose. Yes, you get an answer, but
really it is a half answer and not showing a deeper understanding of why the
writer is crafting the piece, selecting the diction, etc. I teach author's
purpose as a reader and thesis as a writer of non-fiction. My favorite thesis
strategy is Gretchen Bernabie 3-to-1 in her book Story of My Thinking. She,
like myself, is an Abydos trainer and devotes her career to helping kids and
training teachers.
This is excellent: methodical, social, and student-driven lessons work well with any age group.
Wow, I think this is just a fabulous explanation of theme. I also love how you break the misconception of topics as theme. Just love it!! I can't wait to try this with my students!!
Homeschool mom here and I "had" a reluctant writer. I was so concerned about how to teach the concept of Theme. We tried fun books, mystery books, all types of books. THIS is by far the best, down-to-earth way of teaching theme. In minutes, he picked up on it and is no longer a reluctant writer OR reader. He finds it intriguing to read a book specifically to "identify the themes". I can't thank you enough!
THAT IS SO AWESOME! you have made me night!
I love this combination of learning styles! I love this idea because if it's a topic and not a theme it's too shallow. This is putting the responsibility back on them to differentiate the two and WHY I am going to use this!
I'm in 11th grade and I still found this extremely helpful! Thank you!!!
This is the best lesson on theme I've ever seen. Thank you! I use it in my 4th grade classroom with excellent results!
Tried this in 3 4th grade classrooms. 2 were English speaking, and 1 was second language learners. Went very well. I can see that we will need to repeat and practice more until all are quite comfortable and self sufficient. Thank you.
Thank you so much for this video!! I love the rigor and student interaction in this lesson. I can't wait to try this with my students tomorrow :)
I love the way you teach this. I a,m going to try it tomorrow with my students!
It says something that, after years of teaching, I came to the exact same system independently. I do think you go about it a bit backwards. Like any scientist, you should collect your evidence first and then try to find patterns. If you start off with an idea of the answer, you often find evidence to back it up even though it may not explain everything and may even be wrong. I also like to have students ask a question about the topic/subject/big idea that is worth answering. Another thing that I've found is helpful to make complex themes is to have multiple topics and trying to find a way to combine them into one theme. But overall, nicely done and I wish more English teachers would do this with their students.
Thank you, Sara Johnson, for this excellent, eye-opening resource!
Excellent video. Thank you for sharing, Sara!
Excellent!!! I teach in a detention setting, and have a group of VERY low middle school students, and have been pulling my hair out with them. This will totally work with them!!! Thanks!!!!
I love you! This video really helped me understand theme. Very long overdue for me. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this. It's an easy way to help students understand theme. I am definitely using this in my classroom. Thank you so much!!!
Ok I love this. I'm using it this week! Thanks!
This is such an awesome way to teach theme. Thank you for sharing.
I'm impressed! Can't wait to try with my students.
Thank you so much. I teach in other cultures through interpreters. The way we were trying to teach theme was not working. It basically had theme and topic mixed up which I knew intuitively but could not verbalize the problem. I stumbled on your video about THEME and Voila ! So helpful.
awesome! Glad to hear it is helpful!
LOVE THIS! I have used this with many different age groups. Thank you.
I did this today with a group of high school seniors, and it went fantastically. I even used the Finding Nemo example. I totally get where some other teachers are going with the difference between theme statement and thesis statement. Here's my take on it: If you say, "Ray Bradbury believes that overdependence on technology leads to the destruction of the family," that's a thesis statement. You are making a claim about what Ray Bradbury believes. But when you take out the "the author believes that" section, you are left with "Overdependence on technology leads to the destruction of the family." That's a theme, in the form of a theme statement. "Technology" or "The family" is a topic. It does get a little bit tricky once you start finding evidence in the text to support the theme, because really what you're doing is finding evidence in the text to support your CLAIM that this is a theme in the text (a.k.a. your thesis).
Just as an add-on: another great activity to do (perhaps after this lesson) is to have the students work in pairs and rotate around the room to posters with topics such as love, government, technology, perseverance, etc. written on. At each poster they have to write theme statements about those topics. Just to give them extra practice thinking about themes in terms of topics, if they need it.
This is awesome! thanks for sharing!
This video was incredibly helpful! I really love the little bit of fun and color you add to the activity as well. Thanks so much for sharing! I'm teaching this on Friday :)
hope it went well! The kids do like the non-linguistic representations. ;)
Love the idea to ball it up and pass it around. I'll use it tomorrow (6th grade) and give credit.
Thank you so much for this video -- it helped me be able to show my high school students how theme statements work more than any other resource I've used! ;)
Stephanie McCabe Awesome! I just did the way I do symbolism as well just in case you were interested. ua-cam.com/video/w84SfvCbfg4/v-deo.html
a simple great map/tool that i find helpful to help find any topic/content theme/context is the easy who what which where when why how easy simple but effective also for grammar noun means name =who what which etc
This is so incredibly helpful, thank you so much!
Nicely done! I like the way you have them add textual evidence at the end.
thanks!
Super helpful, based my lesson of of this today and saw kids who were struggling with theme for a while finally get it! Thank you so much!
Milana Duggan that makes me soooo happy to know I could help!
Milana Duggan Hey, I just did the way I do symbolism as well just in case you were interested. ua-cam.com/video/w84SfvCbfg4/v-deo.html
Thank you so much! I am using this with my 5th & 6th grade ELLs.
that non-linguistic representation is good for everyone but especially for our ELLs!
This is great! Not one worksheet. Very clear, I think, even for my fourth graders!
Hi their! Thanks for sharing this! I love this and do a pretty similar thing (and as a side not my example for the whole class is also Nemo!). My question is this: I typically use theme to mean the big idea in general that the author is trying to get across and the more specific statement that you referred to as theme I call a "Thesis statement". So for example a theme could be love. But then I ask, what is the author saying about it or what do they believe about this in the book. Do you teach thesis statements and if you do, how do you differentiate between your definition of theme and a thesis statement? Thanks again!
Theme and thesis statements are (in my mind at least) totally different because they have different applications. A theme is the writer's opinion or the message they are trying to convey about a topic. We typically see this in fictional literature and the theme is expressed using fictional characters and/or events. A thesis statement is used more in expository or essay writing where the purpose is much less to entertain and much more to make a point. So, if I'm writing a story I'll have an overarching theme and perhaps some minor themes underneath that woven throughout the story. If I'm writing an essay or paper there won't be a theme, instead I'll have a thesis statement.
Thanks Sarah. This really helped.
The BEST way to teach theme so far!!
I love this lesson! One question, though. How do I then help students choose the most important or central theme?
I'm a bit confused by this question. The most important theme from a novel would be up to the individual. When I read Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, the central theme for me in that novel may be quite different than for, say an black man who remembers Jim Crow. My values and experiences will shape that reading for me so what I personally feel is most important will be different for someone else. That's what makes a piece of writing a thing of art, the readers resonate with the work in different ways. It would be cool to have kids argue about the most important theme, but it doesn't really have one right answer, IMHO.
Nemo is a show now? just kidding!!
this was in deed help full thank you.
This is AWESOME!!
This is gold! I've never been able to figure out with confidence what the theme, per se, of a book is. Now I can confidently find multiple theme! Found this looking to help my 8th grade son with schoolwork. Your symbolism video is also great. Please! Make more videos like these!
Woot! Glad it is helping.
Sara Johnson can you recommend how I can find more techniques like this and your symbolism technique? Thanks!
I made those two up, but if you want strategies, I recommend many of Dr. Jac's books: www.amazon.com/Joyce-Armstrong-Carroll/e/B001JP2T2C/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 Her strategies for high stake testing and ratiocination one may be what you are looking for. Any Abydos International related authors are going to be about strategies. For grammar, any Jeff Anderson www.amazon.com/Jeff-Anderson/e/B001JRZ594/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1523804775&sr=1-1
Thanks! They look interesting. Meantime, you need to make more videos like these!! Your strategies AND the way you explain them are so entertaining, intriguing, and educational. Love the pacing and drawing. I'm neither a teacher nor an eighth grader, but I am hungry for more!
I just ordered a copy of her Authentic Strategies for High-Stakes Tests. Seems like something that could be helpful for a soon-to-be highschooler.
This was so wonderful! Thank you so much for putting it together. I used your lessons with my high school ELLs and they LOVED it. :)
Cynthia Slemaker Hey, I just did the way I do symbolism as well just in case you were interested. ua-cam.com/video/w84SfvCbfg4/v-deo.html
really helped me of what a theme is
Excellent lesson
So helpful. Thank you!
Fantastic! It floors me that there are 29 thumbs down.
I know. I was thinking the same thing.
I'm going to explain that. The thumbs down are from people who think topics are themes and have been teaching that for years.
I have checked out that one as well. Do you have any other resources? Thanks
My blog is guidingontheside.blogspot.com. I am a huge lover of the reading strategies from Notice and Note (there is a really great Facebook group for both the fiction and nonfiction ones) my hubby, who has taught high school English for 10 years recommends the book "sentence composing for high school" good luck!
Yes. This. Love it.
Thank you for this. I was making it harder than it needed to be!
lol me too. lol
Question: is it ok to teach/explore themes before we are finished with the book? Thanks for all this helpful information!
I think once a theme is clear, you can start getting into it. Some themes are obvious by the time you are halfway in.
Thank you, I will use this today. : )
This video was very helpful in writing my essay. I think that my English teacher has watched this video because she taught a lesson very similar to this one. Thank you for the help!
+FrancesAnd AlexTV awesome! good luck on your essay!
THANK YOU
Amazing! Thank you so much! Using your method tomorrow!!!!!
hope it went well!
Is this lesson applicable in a high school english class? I am a first year teacher teaching english but am a social science credential. Thanks
Yes, this is perfect for secondary. You may also want to check out my symbolism vid.
this is great! thank you so much!
i really like this content makes me wanna read books
I love this idea! I'm going to use it in my high school class.
Thank you.
You are a genius.
Good info.
Perfect...
Excellent. Going to taylor make it for some fourth graders.
Yay! 4th graders can totally do it!
Meant to say tailor make, while writing and talking to my friend Taylor at the same time...Sorry..
like it
Would you consider "censorship" a theme or a topic?
topic for sure! A lot of dystopian lit deals with it because there is often a link between that and power. I would encourage my students to determine what the author is trying to say about the role censorship plays in controlling others.
Sara Johnson , okay! So since censorship (ex: found in Fahreinheit 451) is a topic, I can branch off that topic to find a theme? Example, perhaps a character realizes his true potential (intellectually) when he realizes the censorship in his world? Would you consider what I got from that topic a theme?
I would say you are still in the world of the text instead the world of the author. What is Bradbury saying about censorship/power of knowledge? What makes the books/knowledge/free thinking such a threat? Guy is a device that Bradbury is using to explore that topic. What Bradbury is saying about the nature of free thinking, control, and censorship is the message. I don't think it is Guy's realization that censorship exists that unlocks his potential, and I'm not sure if potential is really the right word for that text. I think the idea behind F451 is more in line with "Censorship is used to control people's thoughts, and only with the freedom to real powerful texts can people find deeper meaning in their lives and relationships." (I'm connecting the topics of censorship, freedom, control, and relationships, which I feel are all very much intertwined in the text. Book are more really about the emotional self in F451 than the intellectual. I mean the entire world people are just killing each other or themselves and have closer emotional connections to TV than flesh and blood people) Love that book!
I would say that "censorship" is a topic whereas "censorship is necessary to protect citizens" or "censorship leads to the dumbing down of society when ideas are lost" would be examples of themes.
This is my understanding of theme as well but what if the author believes is totally ambiguous? E.g in The Merchant of Venice "prejudice" is obviously a topic but how would one make this a theme when Shakespeare could have been endorsing anti-Semitic behaviour?
Great question! I'm not sure if I have the answer and I will confess I watched Merchant many moons ago and have no memory other than the opening scene has some rather raunchy imagery. Maybe someone else can weigh in?
how would reading a picture book be against the law?
each illustration in a picture book has its own copyright, so showing even one page of a picture book is breaking copyright because I'm showing a work (the illustration) in whole without the permission of the creator.
brilliant
Do you have a name for this activity?
Sara Johnson's Super Fantastic Theme Strategy!!!! Joking. Nope. Maybe Topic to Theme Exploration?
Nice🙂
What program did you use to create this?
+Meredith Beck seriously old school: took video with my iphone, sped it up in movie maker, voice overed with my computer mic. :)
+Sara Johnson How did you use your iPhone? I mean, what tool did you use to position it over the paper?
For this video, I actually was writing on the floor and had my cell phone hanging off the edge of a table (tapped to my table). In my symbolism video, I used a selfie stick my MIL gave me. Lol! I put it on the selfie stick and then used a cardboard filing box, putting the stick through the handle hole and then propping it in the corner. Super easy. In my classroom vids I tape my cell phone to the top of my document camera and record what I'm doing in class. :)
I think you are collapsing theme and moral. While theme is not always the same as topic, it is very close. I disagree that "love" is not a theme. In that explores the theme of love, there can be many different messages that the author wants to convey about love...
I really do like the way the lesson is laid out though. I just don't agree with your definition of theme.
Jennifer Vega you'd take what I call a thematic topic and say that is theme, and what I call a theme a moral? Am I correct? When I look at my curriculum (which I am by no means saying is perfect but it is my marching orders), I am using the definition that would support the manner in which my students are assessed. I can't speak to AP curriculum, Common Core, universities, or other countries, but perhaps that is the difference? (Moral in my curriculum only shows up in 4th grade in relation to fables.)
I like your capital E😍
You are too sweet! I have dyslexia and it makes my penmanship horrible. I had to work really hard to make it where other people could even read my words.
Sara--Would you please contact us regarding the possible use of this video for one of Kristina Smekens BIG IDEAS! upcoming newsletter articles? You can email me at lshockey@smekenseducation.com. Thank you!
I just got the message today (I'm in grad school full time and working full time so I've been totally neglecting my blogging life this year). I'm not sure whatever transpired, but anyone is free to share it as long as they are giving credit back to me and redirecting them here or to my blog.
Sara--We totally understand the busyness of life. Thank you for your reply and your permission to use the video. Please visit this article on our website and let us know if you would prefer for us to credit you differently.
www.smekenseducation.com/Differentiate-Between-Themes-and-Topics.html.
We wish you well in your pursuit of your master's degree!
looks good!
hi class
+Leo Sun hi little boy
Sorry, but this is wrong. You are confusing "theme" and "thesis", which I think is something that is becoming more and more common. Themes are almost identical to a topics, except that topics are always stated, a theme may be present without being overtly written out.
The word "theme" in literary studies is used in a technically different sense than the word is used outside of that academic field. Outside of that academic field, theme and topic are synonymous. Check the following:
literarydevices.net/theme/
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theme
To understand "theme", think of a "theme park". You have an area with a specific "theme" which ties the various attractions together. It's not a statement, but an overarching connection. Start discussing that theme and you have a topic.
Now take the same approach you used in your video and you come to a moral, lesson, or main idea. What you showed is NOT a theme, but the moral of the story.
+Michael T Thesis is what a writer uses in essay. Theme is inferred in a narrative work - be it narrative prose, poetry, or a play. Claim lends itself more to persuasive (although, there can be several claims that support the central thesis or a central claim, which is a thesis. It all depends on how your state decides to use that terminology) and poetry that lack narrative tends to have a message - which is not a fully formed theme. In every work of fiction I have ever written and published I have never written a thesis but have conveyed a theme. In my essays I get published, my thesis tends to be at the end of the piece since I tend to prefer inductive organization patterns. It is a direct sentence. Thesis: direct and usually one for a short work. Theme: implied and usually more than one in a short work. Moral of the story is no different from theme, but I personally leave the word moral alone because the implication is there is only one because I associate morals with fables - narratives created solely for the purpose to teach one simplistic lesson and are often not universal "don't count your chickens before they hatch" - where complex fiction requires a more sophisticated lesson and there is more than one.
+Michael T if you look at my state curriculum, thesis is under the writing strand for expository (TEK 8.14a, although 15.a.iii does a better job of labeling it in the high school curriculum) and theme is in the reading strand for works of fiction (TEK 8.3a). What state is your curriculum?
I'm not teaching in the US, I'm teaching abroad in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong's English Language Curriculum Guide, themes are referenced both under writing skills and reading skills, while thesis is strictly under writing.
We don't refer to writing and reading strands, using reserving that terminology for types of learning (knowledge, interpersonal, experience), so there are going to be differences in how things are referenced, so I'd prefer not to use too much jargon.
I didn't mean to say that "thesis" was present in a narrative, nor that you misunderstood what a thesis is. What I'm saying is that by taking a theme and distilling the author's argument from it, you are turning a theme into something akin to a thesis. Which would be a main idea.
If your state has defined theme as you are doing, then by all means continue to teach that to your students. However, that is certainly not what I understand theme to be--instead, I understand it to be what you said it is *not*, and a number of sources agree.
The problem comes when you start saying "themes" are a lesson. There are other sources on the internet who say the same thing, but then they'll go right back and give an example that is NOT a lesson. For example, they'll say "honesty" is a theme. But "honesty" is not a lesson. It *is* a theme, but not coherent enough to be a moral or a main idea. Yet that is what themes are. They are broader, less defined, ideas to be explored.
When writers discuss themes in written works, they give broader examples. They aren't all wrong. That is how the word is generally used.
Of course, in literary studies, theme is defined differently. In that field, yes, theme is exactly what you say it is. But that's not what primary or secondary students need to be taught.
Anyway, follow the curriculum established by your state's standards. Your technique is very nice, but I think you are mis-defining theme by doing so.
Thank you Anne! I feel like definitions evolve and our expectation of theme as one word is for a previous time in which rote memorization and simplistic thinking were are norm.
Strangely enough, the website you provided a link to defines themes both ways. Quotes below:
In one section, they wrote "Examples of theme in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” are matrimony, love, friendship, and affection. The whole narrative revolves around the major theme of matrimony. Its minor themes are love, friendship, affectation etc." Clearly this quote demonstrates a definition of theme as something akin to a recurring topic throughout a work.
Whereas, just below that section, they write "It is important not to confuse a theme of a literary work with its subject. Subject is a topic that acts as a foundation for a literary work, while a theme is an opinion expressed on the subject. For example, a writer may choose a subject of war for his story, and the theme may be his personal opinion that war is a curse for humanity. Usually, it is up to the readers to explore the theme of a literary work by analyzing characters, plot, and other literary devices."
The two thoughts they recorded seem to be directly at odds with each other, as does the discourse about theme in literature in general no matter what source I have gone to for a definitive answer.
I think perhaps the confusion might stem from the definition of theme outside of literature which is just "Any repeated or important idea that pervades a work or setting or situation". For example, a composer might choose to revisit a particular melody within several songs of a score and that could be considered a "theme". Therefore, in literature, one might assume coming back to the same idea or conflict over and over again, but with different settings or characters develops a theme.
However, somewhere along the line we also ended up with the idea that theme is the message or lesson that the reader is supposed to be able to infer from that same repetition. The lesson the repetition teaches implicitly.
Add to that the fact that a lot of things get simplified for teaching in the younger grades. A great example is the fact that many people teach Main Idea to younger children by saying "It's what the text is mostly about." However, by my thinking, that's the topic of the text. The text is mostly about dogs. Dogs is not a main idea. It's a topic. A main idea about dogs might be "Dogs have been companions to humans throughout the history of civilization."
Any thoughts, because honestly I'm stilly confused XD.
I really love the lesson, but aren't you actually teaching how to find the moral rather than the theme?
There seems to be a lot of confusion about this among both students and teachers, and I'm trying to get to the bottom of it
Here is my personal take on this debate: morals are from fables. A fable is a story crafted with the SOLE intention of presenting the moral. There is a reason the phrase is "the moral of the story" instead of "the morals of the story". There isn't more than one because the story is designed as a teaching tool to develop a child's sense or morality. Themes, instead, come from more complex pieces of literature which are written to perhaps explore important facets of society to spark conversation and consideration, but are not designed solely to shape morals solely or even explicitly.
How is this _just_ for teachers? If it's so effective, why not let them show their students? I mean it sucks you got trolled but this is UA-cam, people will literally fight over what color the sky is on a daily basis because they're assholes. But every comment and every view would only benefit you I would think.
Good tips! However, you forgot to say what your definition of theme is. You explain what theme is NOT, but you don't provide a definition. I use the following definition: A universal message or TRUTH about life.
Mine has always been the universal message of the author regarding how the world does or should work.