Practical Teaching Experience

Lesson Planning Template

This document is to be completed and submitted before you are scheduled to teach your lesson. Only one copy per
student pair (with both names on the template) need be submitted

Student Pair Names:

Madison Nittinger
Stephanie Weiner
PLANNING FOR TEACHING
Lesson Content Area:
English - Language Arts
Grade Level: 5
Title of Lesson:
Theme vs Main Idea
Common Core Standard :
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.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.
Essential Skills/Knowledge:
Analyze details about characters, setting, and plot in a literary text to infer
a theme.
Analyze the key details and events in a poem as they relate to the
speakers perspective about a topic or idea in the poem
Analyze the conflicts encountered by the characters in a literary
text, including how characters respond to those conflicts
Analyze the development of the plot, including exposition, rising
action, climax, falling action,denouement, as well as subplots.
Connect key details in a literary text to explain how the author,
poet, or playwright conveys a theme.
Teacher Preparation/ Equipment & Materials:
Promethean Board
Theme Worksheet
Short Story Website: http://americanliterature.com/childrens-library
Shareable Document:
https://docs.google.com/a/students.towson.edu/document/d/1b2khb3oG4w
mfTsQ2nuVs1pbZ1q9zOTBu18_0gWFAJaw/edit?usp=sharing
Technology Integration

Students will need previous knowledge or use of the activote in order

use them correctly and effectively identify theme or main idea.
Student will need knowledge on the use of the computer to navigate
to the various websites and documents on the google drive

MD Technology Literacy Standards:

Standard 5.0 Technology for Information Use and Management: Use

technology to locate, evaluate, gather, and organize information and

data. (Select and use information resources available through
technology; Select relevant information from appropriate technology
resources)
TEACHING THE LESSON
Introducing the Lesson:
1. Warm-Up:
Turn and Talk
o How are main idea and theme different?
Discuss as a class and write down thoughts on promethean board
Main idea:
o Summarizing the points in a story. Telling what it is "mainly"
about.
Theme:
o Doesn't necessarily tell anything specific about the story. It
tells someone WHY the author wrote the story. What the author
was trying to teach the reader.
o Lesson or real-world connection
o Is life lesson or something a reader can connect to
o Is not a summary or only applies to the specific book we read
2. Lesson Objective(s): These will be listed on the first slide in the
flipchart and we will read it aloud.

Our Learning Objective Is:

o Students will differentiate between a theme and a main idea in
order to identify their own theme in a short story.

To Meet This Objective:

o Students will participate in whole class discussion about the
difference between main idea and theme
o Students will identify themes and main ideas
o Students will identify a theme in the short story and create a
tweet to show their understanding

3. Motivator/Bridge/Anticipatory Set:
Show common themes worksheet and hand it out.
Watch the short story the tortise and the hare
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjokVI0LJzw)

Plans for Differentiation- Specify the activities you will use to present
the content and address the needs of auditory, visual, and kinesthetic
learners. Refer to the UDL Solutions document (attached in the
assignment folder) to incorporate varied strategies for learners.

Multimedia Collections: There are videos, text, pictures in order to

reach the students so they are able to grasp the content in the way
that best suits them.
Graphic Organizers: We will provide the organizer for when they
determine the theme of the short story they read.
Multimedia Templates: They will be using the template provided to
determine the theme in the short story they read.
Scaffolds: To help them determine a theme rather than a main idea
we discuss both terms so they understand the difference between
the two.
Procedures for teaching the Content - describe (in steps) how you
will teach the lesson. Remember that both individuals in the team should
present so pace yourselves accordingly. Include in this section your plans
for integrating principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

o Turn and Talk: What theme can you take away from this story
that will apply to your life as well as others? What lesson can
you learn from this short story?
Look at examples of main idea and theme. Determine which is which
and move them to the appropriate places. The students will move
them to the proper places using the promethean board. Explain why
you put it in what place.
o All that glitters is not gold (Theme)
o Three men robbed a bank, and they almost got away with it
(Main Idea)
o The princess decided she would rather live in a cottage with
her true love than in the splendor of the castle. (Main Idea)
o You dont have to travel far to find happiness. (Theme)
o The boy had to rely on others because he didnt plan ahead
(Main Idea)
o True generosity is its own reward (Theme)
Navigate to the website: http://americanliterature.com/childrenslibrary
o With a partner:
Pick one of the short stories on the page to read and type
the title where it specifies.
After reading the short story determine a theme and type it in the
designated document.
They will be typing into the google doc found at:

https://docs.google.com/a/students.towson.edu/document/d/1b2khb3
oG4wmfTsQ2nuVs1pbZ1q9zOTBu18_0gWFAJaw/edit?usp=sharing
They will have around 10 minutes to complete the assessment

Multimedia Collections: Recognition

Graphic Organizer: Strategic
Multimedia Templates: Recognition
Scaffolds: Strategic
Summary and Lesson Closure describe how you plan to end the
lesson and prepare students for further learning. (example: discuss what
comes next in the unit or the next step in learning). This step is
important because it allows you to sum up the lesson and preview the next
lesson.
o Turn and Talk
What is a theme and how is it different from a main idea?
Formative Assessment - How will you conduct a quick assessment to
determine who needs review or if this lesson needs to be taught again in a
different method. This need not be a test or quiz it can be a worksheet or
other activity or an opportunity for students to reflect on their learning
(this could be oral, written, art, etc.)

Students will determine a theme for the story they have just read.
They will go onto a google document to type their theme so the
teacher can easily view it and determine if they understood what
theme is and how to determine a theme from reading a story.

Extension of learning- describe activities students can do (homework,

online sites with games/tests) to practice their skills? What would the next
step be in the lesson/content? This will probably NOT be done in your
lesson, but needs to be present to encourage students to continue their
learning.

Students will play the online theme game to practice finding themes
from text. Students must click the correct theme to advance and
gain points.
o http://www.quia.com/rr/934941.html