“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…” (A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens)
What is the literary theme of the passage?
A. Life is full of paradoxes.
B. Opposites attract.
C. Seasons come and go.
D. Inner strength is more important than outer strength.
MODELED INSTRUCTION:
TW: Show a short video of the three little pigs
TW: Share a Chart with students Theme VS Main Idea
TW: clarify theme The moral message or lesson the author wants us to learn, vs the main idea what the story is mostly about.
Lets list some details that help us to identify the main idea
Now lets list some ideas that could help us determine the theme
As we determine theme, let's consider the following questions:
Who is involved?
What is the conflict?
What is the end result and why?
What is the lesson learned?
TW: Use the story of the three pigs to demonstrate how to use these questions to find theme
GUIDED PRACTICE:
TW: Give the students an alternate ending for the three little pigs (The three pigs will invite the wolf in for dinner)
Students will address the same thinking strategies used for the modeled story.
Who is involved?
What is the conflict?
What is the end result and why?
What is the lesson learned?
With their elbow neighbor SW: use the thinking strategy to answer the questions and some groups will share out how did the change affect the theme
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE: SW: use the story read the day before (Mother & Daughter) with the “thinking strategy and complete a graphic organizer to determine theme vs main idea
EXIT TICKET:
Read the passage and answer the following question:
Determine the central idea and theme of the (fable) text.
How is it conveyed through the details the author chose?
Provide a summary of the text, distinct from your personal opinion or judgment.
“The Dog and His Shadow”
It happened that a Dog had got a piece of meat and was carrying it home in his mouth to eat it in peace. Now on his way home he had to cross a plank lying across a running brook. As he crossed, he looked down and saw his own shadow reflected in the water beneath. Thinking it was another dog with another piece of meat, he made up his mind to have that also. So he made a snap at the shadow in the water, but as he opened his mouth the piece of meat fell out, dropped into the water and was never seen more.