Finding the theme may be one of the trickiest concepts to teach in reading! I like to tackle it using a variety of teaching tools and using biographies to teach theme is one of my favorites! Here are a few tips for teaching theme or the central message using biographies: 1. Use Picture Book Biographies With upper elementary students, I like to use picture book biographies, instead of chapter books for teaching theme, especially in the beginning. There are several reasons for this: Picture book biographies are usually "quick reads" and can be read in a single setting, which means that multiple biographies may be read over the course of a week. Picture books are less intimidating (and seem like less of a chore) for most students, so buy-in is greater. Picture books are usually very focused, so the theme of a person's life story should be evident. Picture books are often plentiful in classroom or school libraries. If that's not the case with y......

         Teaching theme is not an easy task! Not only do students need to have a strong comprehension of the story's elements (like plot, setting, and characters), but they also have to be able to make inferences to find the author's message, since most themes are not overtly stated by the author.         So, what are some of my favorite activities for helping kids understand theme? I'll list a number of them here. 1. Make an Anchor Chart         Anchor charts are a great way to make learning visual and to have a record that kids can refer to when they need a bit of extra support.          Theme may be defined in a number of ways. To me, the theme is the author's message or what he/she wants the reader to take away/learn from the story. It is a BIG idea, with a real-world or universal concern and can be applied to anyone.          Besides talking about what......

Let's face it... teaching about themes in literature is hard! It's so difficult, in fact, that teachers don't seem to have a unified approach to teaching it. If you do a quick search on Pinterest, you will soon realize that there seem to be two approaches. Some teachers teach their students that the theme should be stated in one word (honesty, friendship, etc.), while other teachers stress that the theme should be stated in a complete sentence. I struggled with this for years, constantly second-guessing whether I was teaching it "right". I finally decided that I needed to choose an approach and be consistent. I chose to embrace the "complete sentence" philosophy because it appeared to best match my state's standards.  Last year, I ran across this blog post by Bonnie of Presto Plans that made me feel more confident in my decision... but it also challenged my thinking a bit! I realized that I was guilty of confusing the MORAL of the story w......