The teacher will tell the students that a theme is a little like the main idea of the novel. The theme sometimes teaches us a lesson. It is a commentary on our lives and helps us understand. When writing about the theme we would use this type of language. The teacher will give examples of how to construct a sentence when writing about the theme: The theme of the novel is ___________. The teacher will explain that every novel has a theme just as movies have themes. The teacher will tell the students that common archetypical themes, or themes that we use over and over again are good versus evil – good will always win, evil will be punished; it’s best to be honest; it’s important to persevere when the going gets rough; money can’t buy happiness or love or racial stereotyping can harm our society. The teacher will explain that we learn what the theme may be, based on the character’s actions or commentary from the narrator of the story.
The teacher will read several short stories (fairy tales may be used) to the class and identify possible themes from the stories. Next, the teacher will ask students to read a story and select a theme from answer choices.
Teachers may add a media component to this lesson by watching a short video with the students. Based on the information they now have, the students can write possible themes for the episode of the movie.
High school students can then in collaborative groups of four, will list at least two possible themes for a story or novel, without assistance. For differentiation, one student from each group will be given a list of themes, some of which may not apply to the novel. They will base their knowledge on what they have read. They should write the page numbers which helped them locate the theme of the novel or story.
