Theme Anchor Chart explaining Common Themes in Literature

Teaching theme can go from basic principles to more in depth meaning requiring students to inference and make connections. This resource gives you the ability to level up your theme teaching by starting students off on a beginner level.

First, introduce theme possibilities to them with the worksheet in this resource. Then go through the explanation of each theme and ask them to find proof in their text to support one of the themes on the list. As students begin to read more difficult texts, you can ask for multiple themes or level up to intermediate (also included in this resource) and dive deeper into the meaning of each theme.

By teaching theme, students will understand the bigger picture within literature. It even helps them understand author's purpose and make deeper "test-to-self" or "text-to-world" connections.

Theme can also be powerful for full class lessons. Consider choosing a theme that your students need to learn, for example: INTEGRITY. Teach students that having integrity means to do the right thing even when no one is watching. Read them stories to prove why integrity is important and ask them to find text evidence to prove that the main character has integrity. This strategy can be used for all the themes included in this resource.

Have fun teaching about theme!