College of Education

Lesson Plan Template

Teacher Candidate: Breanna Cook Date and Time of Lesson: 10/7/14 8AM

School: Springfield Elementary Subject/Grade Level: Reading/Fifth

Description of Lesson: Students will learn about theme and how we determine the theme of
stories, dramas, and poems.

Lesson Title or Essential Question that guides the lesson: What is theme and how do I use
details in the text to determine the theme of a story, drama, or poem as I read.

Curriculum Standards Addressed:
SC Curriculum Standard(s):
CCSS RL.5.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including
how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects
upon a topic; summarize the text.

Lesson Objective(s): Assessment(s) of the Objectives:
All fifth grade students will define the term theme and
apply it to previous books they have read.
Pre: Students will share what they
already know about theme during
class discussion based on inferences.
During: Students will create a two-
page spread in their reading
notebook. I will make sure they have
followed directions and are prepared
to take notes on theme.
Post: Students will complete an exit
slip where they will write their
thoughts about theme on an index
card. I will look over what the
students write so that I can use the
information to structure my recap of
theme during the lesson on
Wednesday.

Materials/Resources: Students will need their reading notebooks, materials for their notebooks,
glue, colored pencils, scissors, and a pencil or pen.
Prerequisites (Prior Knowledge): Socially, students need self-control to stay on task during the
lesson instead of talking to peers at their desks. Cognitively, students need to remember what
they learned two weeks ago about how to make inferences. Students also need to use their
knowledge of theme from earlier elementary grades. Physically, students need to stay at their
desk during the lesson so that they do not distract others. Emotionally, students need the self-
confidence to answer and ask questions and make appropriate and relevant comments throughout
the lesson.



Procedures:
1. Please take out your reading notebook.
2. I am going to pass out all of the pieces you will need to cut, color, and glue into your
notebook. Pass out the following materials to students:
a. Theme heading= 1 per student
b. Bubblegum machine with theme definition= 1 per student
c. Circles/ gumballs= 6 per student
d. Girl/boy= 1 per student according to their gender
3. Take twenty minutes to color and cut. Do not glue until I have given you the okay to do
so.
a. Walk around and assist students and ensure they stay on task.
4. Once students are ready to glue, show them how to set up their reading notebooks.
a. The gumball machine and the six gumballs will go on the left page in the journal.
Students should not glue the gumballs until after taking notes because the
gumballs will be used to write notes.
b. On the page on the right, the title, Theme, will go across the top and the boy or
girl will go in any of the corners under the heading.
5. After students have glued all of their pieces in their notebook we will begin taking notes.
a. Ask students if they can use the pictures they glued in their notebook to make an
inference of the definition of theme.
b. Go through all of the gumball notes one-by-one having discussion in-between
each.
i. Theme is central idea or message
We use details from the story to help us determine the theme, but
all of the small details are not the theme. The theme is the most
important idea or message.
ii. A theme is often inferred
We talked about inferences two weeks ago so someone remind me
of what it means to make an inference. So, determining the theme
might be you as the readers using inferences of events and details
in the story.
The text most of the time will not clearly say, the theme of my
book is
iii. A book can have more than one theme
A book may start off with one theme but then the characters may
change or the author may add another theme to the story.
iv. Ask yourself, what should I learn?
This one is important because good readers think about what they
are reading. As you read what questions might you ask yourself?
The questions you will want to ask are:
What does the author want me to learn?
What does this book teach me?
Am I able to relate to the book and if so how?
v. Ask yourself, what did the characters learn?
Usually, what the characters learn are also important for the
readers to learn. The author wants us to be able to relate to the
characters.
vi. Consider the actions, feelings, thoughts and words of the characters
This is where you use the details in the text to determine the theme.
How the characters act and feel, what they think, and what they say
are important factors of the theme. With Almost Home, even
though we are not finished yet, we might say that Sugar has to act
and think older than her age and that she has to be the mom, the
dad, and herself because she has no one. So one of the themes
might be that it is okay to let other people help us and that we do
not have to be anyone but ourselves. We will look closer at the
theme of Almost Home as we continue to read and finish the book
by next Friday.
6. So class, what have you learned about theme today? Write one thing you learned on an
index card that I am going to bring you. Once you have finished place them in the center
of your desk and I will come around to pick them up.
7. Retrieve all index cards.
8. It is now time for you to put away your reading notebook and get out your agenda to
write your homework. After I have signed your agenda, you may quietly pack up and get
in line order. Tomorrow we will work with different texts to determine their themes.
9. Remember that you have a reading quiz on Friday so you need to study all of your notes
in your reading notebook, which also includes notes from today on theme.

Activity Analysis:
One activity I use in this lesson is an engaging activity where students color, cut, and glue
the heading and pictures for theme in their notebooks before taking notes. I chose this
activity because it helps make taking and studying notes more interactive for students.
The students are used to this activity because this is their routine for taking notes, so I
wanted to create a common means of note taking to introduce a new idea. This activity
addresses the lesson objective because it will help students better remember the definition
of theme.
Another activity in this lesson is discussion during note taking where students are asked
the think about books they have read and the types of questions they might ask
themselves when reading in order to determine the theme or themes of a book. I chose to
hold a class discussion because it helps students think through their ideas and share their
ideas within their classroom of supportive peers. These students like the talk and class
discussion is a wonderful means for them to express their ideas. This activity meets the
lesson objective because it asks students to think about books they have read to share
different themes they have encountered while reading.
I will use the SmartBoard to write directions and guidelines on the board for students to
have written and verbal directions. I will also use the SmartBoard periodically to write
ideas as discussed by students during whole class discussions.

Differentiation/Accommodations/Modifications/Increases in Rigor
Students are grouped according to academic achievement level so that students may help each
other succeed. During independent work, I will monitor student work and remind those who are
not focused that they need to stay on task. For the students who continue to stay off task and
disrupt, I may need to remove them from the group and work with them individually. For my
five gifted and talented students and any other students who may finish independent work
quickly, I will allow them to read silently.

References:
Powell, R. Reading notebook structure and materials.

Powell, R. Routine for introducing new ideas.