Lesson 4 - Theme

🕐 Lesson Overview

• Bellringer - Vocab Practice
• Review: Theme
• "I Do": Identify theme in "Bao"
• Freytag's Pyramid for "All Summer in a Day"
• "We Do": Identify theme in "All Summer in a Day"

⭐ Objectives

• I can analyze a story’s structure.
• I can identify themes in a work of literature.

📏 Standards

🗽 NYSNGSS

🗒️ Lesson Plan

Anticipatory Set

The teacher will display the following passage, with blanks, on the board.^[1] Students will need to read the passage and fill in the blanks with one of the six vocabulary words for "All Summer in a Day."

As the torrential rain began to (1) ____, the storm-battered hikers ventured out from their shelter into the damp forest, eager to (2) ____ the crisp, pine-scented air after hours of confinement. Guiding her (3) ____ elderly grandfather by the arm so he wouldn't slip on the mud, Maya helped him carefully (4) ____ his way along the narrow, slick cliffside trail.

Reaching safety was (5) ____ to their survival before nightfall completely set in, yet the (6) ____ roaring of the swollen river below remained a constant reminder of how chaotic their journey had been.

The teacher will take attendance as students complete the activity. After sufficient time has elapsed, the class will review the passage and fill in the correct vocabulary words. The class will then review the agenda and objectives.

Developmental Activity

The teacher will review theme, emphasizing that themes are inferred by the reader and therefore different readers might have different opinions on the theme of a work. Students will copy the following notes in their journals as a reminder.

• A theme is the central idea, topic, or point in a story.
• Think of it as TheMessage: what is the author trying to say? What's their "big idea"?

The teacher will provide examples of themes and thematic statements from previously read texts (A Long Walk to Water, "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," and Freak the Mighty, for example). The teacher should make clear that themes and thematic statements do not mention specific characters or events in the story; the reader must "zoom out" and ask themselves what the prevailing message of the story is.

The class will rewatch the Pixar Short "Bao" to keep it fresh in mind; the teacher will show an example story map for the short.

• Exposition: A woman and her husband eat dumplings alone in their house.
• Conflict: One of the dumplings comes alive. It is a baby and needs someone to take care of it!
• Rising Action: The woman cares for and raises the dumpling as her child. The dumpling grows older and becomes more independent and rebellious. The woman feels sad and alone.
• Climax: The dumpling tries to leave home with his new girlfriend. In protest, the woman eats the dumpling.
• Falling Action: The woman is distraught, haunted by her actions and loneliness.
• Resolution & Denouement: The woman's son returns home and the two reconcile. Together, the family and the son's girlfriend make and eat dumplings together.

The teacher will then model how to "zoom out," looking for key ideas and generating possible themes and thematic statements. The teacher will invite students to share their ideas.

Closure

Together, the class will map the story structure of "All Summer in a Day." Students will engage in a Turn & Talk where they practice "zooming out" from the events of the story and identifying themes and thematic statements. After sufficient time for discussion has elapsed, the teacher will invite pairs to share their ideas for themes. The teacher will record them on the board and, if possible, model how to take single words and phrases (e.g. "jealousy," "bullying," "exclusion") and turn them into full thematic statements.

🧠 Rationale

This lesson loosely follows the Gradual Release model to support students in identifying theme. Again, the skill of identifying a theme is assumed to be present prior to eighth grade; this lesson acts as a refresh and re-teach prior to more challenging, independent lessons ahead in the unit.

⚙️ Modifications

Students may be required to complete and hand in another Story Structure Worksheet for "All Summer in a Day" to enforce accountability.