Title of Lesson: Inferring Theme
Name: Destiny Burton Section: 04
Subject: ELA Grade Level: 5th
Establishing the Lesson Framework
Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills:
(8) Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--literary elements. The
student recognizes and analyzes literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional,
contemporary, classical, and diverse literary texts. The student is expected to:
(A) infer multiple themes within a text using text evidence;
Objective(s):
- Content: The student will infer the theme from various text using context clues and text evidence.
- Language: The student will discuss what they think the theme is with their partner.
Rationale:
- The students are learning about theme because it is in the TEKS but also because knowing what theme is and how to
find it will help them better understand what they are reading.
English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS):
- Reading: 3.E Share information in cooperative learning interactions
- Writing: 5.B Write using newly acquired basic vocabulary and content-based grade-level vocabulary
Assessment Strategies
Pre-Assessment:
- Three days before the lesson, on a sheet of paper my students will write down what the definition of theme is. This
helps me understand where all of my students are and if they have any prior knowledge in knowing what theme is.
Formative Assessment(s):
- At the end of the lesson my students will have to complete an exit ticket to see what they learned from the lesson.
They will write down the definition of theme and one thing they learned during the lesson that they didn’t already
know.
Summative/Post Assessment:
- For the post assessment they will once again define what theme is and then provide two examples of theme. Then
they will read a passage and determine what the theme of that passage is. Then for a bonus they will tell me the
difference between theme and topic.
Designing Supportive Learning Environments
Materials:
- Pencil (students)
- Notebook paper (students)
- PowerPoint (teacher)
- Projector (teacher)
- Notecard w/ question (teacher)
- Timer (teacher)
- Quote worksheet (teacher)
Resources for teaching:
1
- Theme Lesson: : https://shsu.zoom.us/rec/share/b3tn29BA7zQbUiaQH8w5RDfut_cZO8KHyRsOvJzIQZ-
6AIvdIRW6jcV0wZ2EKOQ.x1J_bPDQYyiQ9paw Passcode: tL!Bm$k2
- Boundin’ film with questions- https://edpuzzle.com/media/62cb3e505b82af40b78a84dc
- Boundin’ short film- https://safeshare.tv/x/ss614795f688b37
- Timer- https://www.online-stopwatch.com/candle-timer/full-screen/
- PowerPoint- Theme lesson
Setting
Student Grouping:
- Table Groups
- Partners
Technology Needs:
- Projector
- Internet
Safety Concerns (if applicable): N/A
Student Needs/Adaptations
STUDENT CONTEXTUAL FACTOR STUDENT NEED/ADAPTATION
Student A Dyslexia (504 Accommodations) Oral administration by reading the questions and
answer choices to those students
Student B English Language Learner Provide the students with a sentence stem
Student C Visual Impairment Allow students to move closer to the board if
needed
Content Knowledge
What content do you (the teacher) need to know in order to teach this lesson? (Be specific and give details)
What other content connections do you need to know?
As the teacher I need to know that the definition of theme is the lesson the author wants the reader to take away from the
book. I also need to know different examples of theme in various books like “always treat people with respect”. I also need
to know that the definition of topic is what the whole text is about using one- or two-words and the difference between topic
and theme and how to teach that to my students using the umbrella and rain analogy.
What possible errors or misconceptions could the students make? How can you correct these errors and
misconceptions?
Some students might think the theme we are talking about is a theme for a party and the way I would correct that error is
telling them that is a definition of theme, but in literature theme has another meaning. Another misconception is that
theme and topic are the same thing and the way I would correct that is by telling them about the definition for both and
then giving them an example using a book we have read in class.
What are some anticipated student behaviors as students are learning the concept/s or skill/s?
An anticipated behavior is that some students might blurt out answers instead of raising their hands. Another behavior is
some students might not understand the activity and so I will just walk around and explain it to them again to make sure we
are all on the same page.
Instructional Strategies
The instructional model(s) utilized in this lesson is (are):
2
_____ Inquiry (Five E Model) _____ Direct Instruction _____ Cooperative Learning
_____ Discovery Learning ____ Simulations _____ Other /specify________________
Introduction/Focus/Engage
How you are introducing or engaging students in the lesson?
- I will say “since the second week of school we have been learning about characterization, plot, context
clues, inferencing and using text evidence to justify our answers. Now I am going to add to your schema
and introduce our new term theme. Does anyone know what the definition of theme is?” After hearing
some of their answers I will go over our objectives with them so they know what they will be able to do at
the end of the lesson.
Instructional Procedures/Methods/Activities
What are you doing to teach the content?
I will go over some of the common answers from their preassessment to clear up any confusion from there and then I will
introduce theme and its definition along with some common themes they might see in books. Then I will do a small mini
lesson on the difference between topic and theme because they can confuse them easily. Next, I will introduce the cupcake
analogy that can help them remember theme. After that I will give them 3 different examples of the book title and its theme.
I will introduce our short film Boundin’ and tell my students the first time watching it just look and see if you can figure out
what the theme is. After the film is over, they will have 15 seconds to talk with their shoulder partner about what they think
the theme might be. Then I will each table a question they will focus on as they watch the video for a second time and then
they will watch it. Then with their partner they have 30 seconds to 1 minute to talk about their questions and what answer
they found. Then I will add 2 minutes to the clock and the whole table will discuss their answer to the question. Then we will
share all of our answers out loud so the other tables can hear the answer to the question. Then after hearing the answers to all
the questions, we will come up with the theme for the short films. Then we will move into our next activity which is finding
the theme of a quote. We will work on the first quote together then they will have 5 minutes to work on finding the theme of
3 quotes with their table partner. To close this activity we will share our answers aloud to see if we all came up with the same
theme.
Closure: How are you wrapping up the lesson?
After we go over the last activity, I will collect those papers and then we will have a recap over what we have learned about
theme. Then after the recap the students will complete their exit ticket answering the following questions: What is the
definition of theme and what is one thing you learned today that you didn’t already know.
