McDonalds Draft (2010). Modified by Kreassig and Gould (2014) for use with student teachers.

Teacher: Olivia Martin

Date: 01/13/15

Title of Lesson: Theme

Cooperating Teacher: Dr. Alison Reddy

Core Components
Subject, Content Area, or Topic
Shared Reading, Theme
Student Population

17
Learning Objectives

VBO 3.5.13-Identify the main idea (theme) in fiction

VBO 3.5.14-Identify major events & details that support the theme or main idea in fictional
text.
VBO 3.5.7-Determine important information to support main idea, opinions & conclusions.
SOL:
3.5 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional text and poetry.
f) Ask and answer questions about what is read.
g) Draw conclusions about text.
h) Identify the problem and solution.
i) Identify the main idea.(theme)
j) Identify supporting details.
k) Use reading strategies to monitor comprehension throughout the reading process
Virginia Essential Knowledge and Skills

To be successful with this standard, students are expected to:

draw conclusions about text to make meaning.
identify the problem (conflict) and solution, main idea or theme, and supporting details.
Materials/Resources
Disney Lyric packet
under the Sea lyric video (youtube.com)
Highlighter
Sort cards
Poster
Heading cards
Tape
Disney summary/theme cards
Safety (if applicable)
Time
(min.)
10-15
min

Process Components
*Anticipatory Set
Do Disney song exercise with Under the Sea from the Little Mermaid (Students will use
highlighters and look for clues in their lyric packets that show them what the theme of the
song is)
Summarize the movie first

McDonalds Draft (2010). Modified by Kreassig and Gould (2014) for use with student teachers.

The Little Mermaid is a wonderful story about Princess Ariel, the

daughter of King Triton, who longs to have more than an ordinary
sea creatures life. Ariel wants to be a part of the human world and
has fallen in love with a prince from that world she dreams of
joining. The song under the Sea shows one of Ariels teachers
and her fathers servants, Sebastian, trying to convince Ariel to
forget about the human world and stay where she belongs, Under
the Sea.
Possible themes:
The Grass isnt always greener
Be thankful for what you have
Look at whats around you before you want something else

*State the Objectives (grade-level terms)

Today we are going to be looking at theme a little more closely.

5-10
min

5 min

*Instructional Input or Procedure

Theme vs. Summary
Yesterday we talked about theme. We said that a theme is the message or Big
Picture that the author wants us to take away from the story and into our daily
lives. We said that themes are opinions, not facts. We talked about a few
important questions to ask ourselves as we try to find the theme in texts.
What is the Big Idea that the author wants us to take away from the story?
What perspective (way of thinking) does the author give about the world?
Clues:
What happens to the main character in the story? What meaningful
conclusions can you make from this? (SUMMARY)
What does the author want you to take away from the story?
From our lists of clues, we see that the summary can be a clue to what our
theme is. But we need to be clear, the summary is not the theme. The summary
is a brief statement about the characters, setting and events that take place in
the text. It is what the story is mostly about. And while we can use the summary
to find our themes, when we are asked to find the theme, our answer is never
Irene took the dress to the duchess in a bad winter storm. Our theme, in this
case, is if you work hard you can achieve your goals.
*Modeling
Using one of the summary/theme cards from our Disney songs, model how we will set
up our Theme vs. Summary Poster.
*Check for Understanding
Have the students help me decide which heading the next card goes under. I will have
them do thumbs up for theme; Thumbs down for summary and Thumbs to the side
for unsure. This way I can see if they are following the process.

5-7 min

*Guided Practice
Students will team up with their diagonal desk mate will each get a few cards with either
a summary or an example of a theme. They will conference and decide whether or not
their card belongs under the theme or summary heading.

McDonalds Draft (2010). Modified by Kreassig and Gould (2014) for use with student teachers.

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7-10
min

2 min

*Independent Practice

Students will continue deciding which cards go under which headings.

Assessment
Student teams will come to the front of the class with their cards, read them out loud
and say whether their cards belong under theme heading or summary heading.
Their classmates will do thumbs up if they agree or thumbs down if they dont agree.
Then the team will explain why they chose that answer. We will tape their cards
under the correct headings and I will make a permanent poster that we can hang in
the hall way.
*Closure
At the close of lesson, we will review the definitions of theme vs. summary.

Differentiation Strategies (enrichment, accommodations, remediation, or by learning style).

Students are participating in auditory (song, discussion), visual (lyric packets, theme v.
summary chart) and kinesthetic (theme v. summary sort) presentations to accommodate
learning styles.
Classroom Management Issues (optional)
Be explicit in instructions and practice proximity to make sure students are on task.
Lesson Critique. To be completed following the lesson. Did your students meet the objective(s)? What part
of the lesson would you change? Why?

The students are really grasping the concept and showing growth by being able to now definitively
explain their choices. Cooperating teacher feedback was positive. I need to work on being able to
adjust instruction based on remaining time for the lesson. I need to work on being more aware of
time constraints.
*Denotes Madeline Hunter lesson plan elements.

Intern Signature

Cooperating Teacher Signature

McDonalds Draft (2010). Modified by Kreassig and Gould (2014) for use with student teachers.

Date