Looking for unique post-reading activities to inspire students and provide a sample of their analytical skills? Find high-interest strategies for secondary.

Build community and get to know your Middle and High School Students using this beginning-of-the-year and Back-to-School Activities. All social media profile pages come with community building, reading, and writing activities. Students can get to know each other while performing fun social media and community-building activities in your secondary ELA classes. Whether you're a departmentalized or self-contained teacher, these activities are perfect during your ELA class periods or during your reading and writing blocks. This resource includes the following social media sites and corresponding activities: Snapchat Instagram Twitter Pinterest Facebook Kindle Goodreads iTunes iPhone Cell Phone Messaging Prep is quick and easy... Just print your activity and you're ready for an engaging and results-producing class period! TEACHERS LIKE YOU SAID… ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Amy S. says, "OBSESSED!!!! I am teaching summer school and I'm normally a math teacher but I am also teaching them ELA. I found this and I honestly wish I taught ELA so I could buy the rest of the novel studies and do them! This is the way you should teach ELA. Easily able to teach all standards through reading notebook, vocabulary, discussion. Lesson plans are soooo thorough. I highly suggest all upper elementary ELA teachers look into your resources!" ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sunshine S. says, "The templates are awesome and my kids loved getting to create their instagram profiles. I really like that you included some ideas for how to use them." ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stacy S. says, "My students loved using this as an icebreaker for school. It was a fun way for them to get to know each other, it's hard to find one for high school that you don't have to make yourself! Thanks so much." ___________________________________ You may also like… → Middle School ELA Reading and Writing Back to School Bundle → Middle School ELA Back to School Big Bundle → Middle School ELA Back to School Stations → Editable Syllabus Templates ___________________________________ Copyright © Martina Cahill-The Hungry Teacher Permission to copy for single classroom use only. Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this product.

Storytelling is a wonderful way to build creativity and imagination in your students. How can storytelling activities be beneficial in the classroom? There are so many ways! inspires purposeful talkingraises enthusiasm for reading textsinitiates writingenhances communityimproves writingengages students Want to see how each of these activities work? Watch the Storytelling Activities video on my YouTube

Upper elementary teachers, are you looking for back to school activities and ideas to make this year the best year yet? These tips and ideas for back to school season will save your time and sanity and help you to kick off the year smoothly!

Looking for a fun vocabulary activity? This extension is perfect for middle and high school to help encourage critical thinking and associations.

Looking for esl task cards to use with your english language learners? Try these picture cards that are perfect for quick and effective language practice!

If you are looking for some fun ways to start the year with your upper elementary students, then consider adding in one of these 5 ideas!

Are your students disinterested and tired of the traditional ways of learning characterization? Have you been searching for a really fun, student-centered, interactive way to eliminate their boredom? Well, look no further! I present to you a wonderful student-collaboration activity that will get your students involved and excited for a character analysis for any novel, […]

Giving students an easy, independent activity to start as soon as they arrive on the first day of school is a great way to calm their nerves. It also allows you to focus on greeting new students and getting supplies organized and put away. Here is a great first day of school printable that students ... Read More about Read & Find – First Day of School Printable

This all about me writing and art activity is a fun, creative, and engaging back to school project. Students can complete this all about me activity with as little or as much writing as they like, allowing for maximum differentiation. The display you can create with these all about me posters will impress parents and showcase your students' personalities. This All About Me activity is simple enough for students to complete independently and entertaining enough to hold their attention, which is perfect for a first day/week activity. While students are working on their all about me posters, you are free to greet arriving students and parents, fill out transportation methods, etc. What You'll Get with This All About Me Activity: ✅ PowerPoint slide with student directions - Students can get started right away after they find their seats. ✅ 3 Example All About Me posters ✅ Student All About Me posters ✅ Printable collage directions page ⭐ Why You’ll Love This All About Me Activity: It is self-directed, which means you have the ability to greet incoming students at the door and complete other administrative tasks. It is differentiated due to the student’s ability to write or draw their answers. Students’ creativity and personalities really shine through their All About Me posters. It is a nice way to ease into the first day of school and helps calm nerves. ⭐ What Other Teachers Have Said About These All About Me Posters: "I used this at the beginning of the school year, and it was perfect to get to know my students better. I also hung them on our student work wall for the parents to see at Back To School Night. They loved it!" "My students really enjoyed creating this collage, and it was a great way to settle back into the school term after being remote. The students were able to reconnect with each other while completing this task, and the display it has made has created a lot of discussion between students about their similarities and differences." "This was such a fun way to learn more about our classmates! The kids loved looking over them and guessing whose poster belonged to who. I plan to use this each year!" "This was the perfect first week of school activity. It allowed me to get to know my students better and allowed them some time to work quietly." ⭐ Check out the preview to learn more about this fun all about me back to school activity! ⭐ Save by purchasing this in the bundle: Back to School Bundle ⭐ What Others Have Said About The Back to School Bundle: "I absolutely loved all of the activities included in this resource! My students loved getting to know me better and I enjoyed learning more about them!" "Great activities for the first week of school. My kids had fun with the bingo and the All About Me Wall." "Very helpful in planning the beginning of the new school year." ✨ All my new products are 50% off for the first 24 hours. Click here to follow my store and receive notifications when I create something new so you don't miss out on the savings. I’d love to hear from you if you have any questions, issues, or requests! ❤ Laura Heinen [email protected] cultivatingcriticalreaders.com ___________________________________ Copyright © Cultivating Critical Readers, LLC. Permission to copy for single classroom use only. Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this product. ✨ Leave a review to get TPT credit to use on future purchases: Each time you give feedback, TPT gives you feedback credits that you use to lower the cost of your future purchases. You can easily do this by clicking the "Provide Feedback" button next to the items you've purchased on your "My Purchases" page.

These simple name activities are easy to set up and guaranteed to be fun for your students at the beginning of the year!

It's time to go back to school! With the back-to-school season upon us, it is time to start planning back-to-school activities for the first week of school.

Trying to find a meaningful vocabulary teaching approach? Find fresh, powerful, and inspiring ideas to revolutionize the way you teach words!

Use these free Writing Folders and freebies to give your writers support during their independent writing time. Find all our FREE Writing Printables HERE. If you are a subscriber to my newsletter, you can download all the printables that go with it for FREE! Not a subscriber? Simply subscribe HERE! NOTE: If you are already a ... Read More about Writing Folders – for K-5 Learners

My favorite first grade Back to School Activities in my classroom! These are my go-to activities for the first week of school!

In honor of the Q&A section of my TPT store , I am sharing a little more about my paragraph puzzles today in VIDEO form! Questions answered in this video: What exactly will I get when I purchase a month of paragraph puzzles? Can these be differentiated to meet the needs of my strug

When students enter our classrooms on the first day of school, we know that more often than not, they didn’t necessarily choose to be in our class. The first day of school is our opportunity to make…

These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back

It's time to go back to school! With the back-to-school season upon us, it is time to start planning back-to-school activities for the first week of school.

Trying to improve reading fluency in high school can be frustrating. Here are some effective approaches educators can use in the classroom.

Need an easy-to-implement, meaningful back to school activity for your Secondary ELA students? This mystery student activity has students review symbols, metaphors, and similes to create posters that symbolize their personality. Students then use inferencing skills to guess who created each poster. ...

I am all done with parent conferences and it feels great! I had the most terrific year and I’m so happy to share my students’ progress with their parents. During parent conference time, I always love to have lots of student work to display. I absolutely love to incorporate student pictures into student work. This ... Read More about Silhouette Autobiographies and Read Across America

By Presto Plans A few years ago I became a part-time student and enrolled in a master's course called Writing Instruction. The professor took a unique approach by having us, a group of English teachers, write our own poetry and fiction. It was an eye-opener. I realized that somewhere between high school and my first teaching job, I forgot the lonely and uneasy feeling of staring at a blank page, not knowing where to begin. When the professor allowed us to work with another teacher on the next writing piece, there was a sense of comfort in that I had someone to discuss, collaborate, and share ideas with. Collaborative writing not only broke down my reserve and hesitation, but also allowed me to foster a relationship of trust and partnership with my co-author. I wanted to bring this experience into my own classroom, so I made a point to allow more opportunities for students to write creatively with a partner or a group. Try 5 of my favorite engaging, low-prep collaborative writing activities that you can use in your class tomorrow. Snowball writing is an activity that your middle and high school students will always remember. It can be used with almost any writing genre and is highly-engaging for even your most reluctant writers. I use this method for narrative, poetry, descriptive, and essay writing. I even use it as an introductory icebreaker activity during back-to-school or a semester change! How It Works: - One student starts the writing process for a timed period decided by the teacher. - When time is up, the teacher tells students to crumple up their work into a “snowball” and throw it somewhere else in the room. Get ready to see lots of confused faces J. - Students retrieve one of the snowballs, smooth out the paper, and continue the writing process! (Tip: have students use a pen to make the writing easier to read for the next student) This process is repeated as needed. When all parts are completed, the paper goes back to the original writer who creates a final copy. If you want to know more about how I use this for narrative writing, read this detailed blog post that gives the step-by-step process in more detail. Have your students write a descriptive paragraph using vivid imagery with an activity called Shared Sensory Writing. How it works: - Put students into groups of three and give them an object to describe. - As a group, they decide which of the 3 senses they will focus on (sight, taste, smell, touch, hearing). Each person is assigned a sense, and they write a short paragraph describing the object based only on the sense they receive. - The group combines elements from each of the paragraphs to create a final descriptive piece. Download this activity for FREE by clicking here: Shared Sensory Writing One of the challenging parts of creative fictional writing is developing the story elements that will form the plot. Use the graffiti fiction brainstorming technique as a way for students to work together to spark fictional writing. How It Works: - Set up 4 chart-paper stations around the room with the following titles: Conflicts, Character Traits, Settings, and Themes. Break the class up into 4 groups and have each group go to one of the stations. - The group members work together to “graffiti” the page with potential conflicts, character traits, settings, and themes that could emerge in a fictional story. I fill in a couple of my own examples to get them started. - Have each group spend 3-4 minutes filling the chart paper up with their ideas. Then, have them all circulate to the next station to repeat the process. - When they are done, have each student select one character trait, conflict, setting, and theme from the graffitied pages to develop a unique narrative. You can choose to have them write independently or with a partner. Tapestry poetry was developed by Avril Meallem (of Israel) and Shernaz Wadia (of India). The two women started writing tapestry poetry collaboratively via email. The form consists of two authors writing a 9-line poem based on the same title, and then working together to meld it into one seamless finished product. How It Works: - Put your students into pairs (or let them choose a partner). - Have one of the students select a title for the poem. This student who selects the title is the only one who has the option of using it in the poem (to avoid repetition). - Both students write a 9-line poem. - When they are done, the pair works together to interlace the poem into one. All 18 lines must be included. Students are permitted to make grammatical changes (singular to plural, verb tenses etc.), and adjustments to adjectives and adverbs, but the majority of the poems should remain the same. Download this activity for FREE by clicking here: Tapestry Poetry Sketch and scribble writing is meant to be used with descriptive/narrative writing and will particularly appeal to those artistic students in your classroom. How It Works: - Have students form a group of three. Give each of the students a picture as a writing prompt. The picture prompts below are the ones I use. The images should allow them to use a narrative voice to describe a scene. They should keep the prompt hidden from the other members of the group. - Once the time is up, each student passes the writing to another student in the group who will read it and draw the scene based on the description (no words allowed). - When the drawings are done, they are given to the final student who must write a paragraph based on the drawing. In the end, have students compare and contrast the drawings to the original picture writing prompt as well as the two pieces of writing. Want even more ideas for collaborative writing? Check out these activities from some of the other Secondary English Coffee Shop bloggers! Tandem Writing from The SuperHERO Teacher Group Writing Challenges from Room 213 Two Truths and a Lie from Secondary Sara Round Robin Writing from Nouvelle ELA Have other ideas for collaborative writing? Click the comment button at the top of the post to join the conversation! SaveSave SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Here are six essential back to school lessons I’ll be using in my classroom this back-to-school season.

Wondering how to engage students in meaningful learning? This ultimate list of active learning strategies is a great reference to use while lesson planning.

The Pigeon has to go to school and he's not happy about it! In fact, he's worried. Help kids kick their first-day fears with these fun ideas!

As an ESL teacher, I often hear from classroom teachers that they don't always know where to start when it comes to working with beginning English language learners (ELLs), or newcomers, in small group instruction. In this post I'll share a typical "guided reading" lesson that I would give to my beginning ELLs, as well as a glance of at what a typical week would look like. Let me start by saying, the very first thing I do before I start instructing my newcomers is, I assess what they already know. First, I see if they have literacy skills in their native language...can they read and write? Then, I see if they know alphabet letter names and sounds. Next, I assess their reading level. Since they don't have English literacy skills yet, their reading level typically starts at level "A" (emergent). I can say that most students do have some literacy skills in their home language, and often times, many know some letter names and sounds. So now I've got my starting point! When I first begin working with my newcomers, the main components of reading that I typically focus on are building vocabulary, phonological awareness/phonics and sight words. So a typical week would encompass all three of these skills. Down the road I add comprehension skills, but they are not ready for that yet. Step 1 - Choose an appropriate book. I carefully select books that have relevant vocabulary. For the most part, my main focus is to build their vocabulary. The literacy skills in their native language will transfer to their new language, however, they have an extremely limited vocabulary, so... vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary! I chose this book because I wanted to teach my students the word "big." It's also about animals, and I know that most kids are interested in reading about animals! I used gestures to SHOW them what "big" means. It's important to be mindful of your students' age when picking out books. You don't want to give 4th-6th graders books about bunnies or teddy bears. Try picking age appropriate books; which I know can be a challenge if the selection is limited, but you don't want your students feeling embarrassed. Step 2 - Preview the book. Point to and say each animal's name and have the students repeat the names back to you, keeping in mind to speak clearly and to enunciate the sounds in each word. It's important for them to hear how to pronounce the names. A side thought...Think about "A" level books... they are not created with English language learners in mind. "A" level books have repeated sentences, which are GREAT, but they also have very specific vocabulary that students are expected to decode using picture cues. In the book my students read last week, the repeated sentence was, "We go to the _____." The pictures show the family in different locations like the pool, park, library, soccer game, etc. In one picture the family is standing in front of a large fish tank. If I asked English only students where the family is, some might say a fish store or they might even guess aquarium, depending on their background knowledge. Then they'd cross check their thinking with the word and see that it begins with the letter "a" and hopefully they'd say, "It's an aquarium!" But our newcomers don't know what a big fish tank place is called in English, so it's important for us to support our students by saying the names of each vocabulary word. Step 3 - Choral reading! Newcomers feel more comfortable in a choral reading setting. They need help pronouncing the words. They need to hear YOU pronounce the words. Choral reading helps to keep anxiety levels low. (In a few weeks, the choral reading decreases and I will start focusing on decoding.) Step 4 - After reading, review the animal names. Point to an animal and see if they can remember the name. Perhaps make a matching activity with animal pictures and names. Support as needed. Encourage a LOT! Step 5 - I always provide a guided writing activity based off of the book we just read. I use sentence frames to support their thinking and writing. Sometimes I create my own, like the picture below, and other times I'll use a graphic organizer as a follow up activity. On this day I wanted them to understand the meaning of "big," so their writing supported this goal. As they finish their writing activity, I'll ask each student to read some of their writing to me. Then they'll draw a quick picture, which I always ask them to label. I know that my newcomers don't understand every word in the book, and that's OK! They are being exposed to new words and ideas in a repeating format. I want them to get used to the structure of our lessons so that they know what's expected. So, here is what a typical week of small group work entails for my newcomers. Knowing what the focus is each day helps me to zone in on their learning goals. The variety keeps it fun and interesting, yet it's consistent so they know what's expected. As you can see, on Tuesdays I include direct vocabulary instruction, either using the vocabulary from the book, like the animals, monthly themed vocabulary, or content area vocabulary. October Themed Vocabulary (along with sight words and phonics review) One vocabulary activity I have my students do is called the K.I.M. Strategy. In their notebook they write the key word (K), important information (I), sketch a memory clue (M) and write a sentence (S). For my newcomers, I leave out the (I) portion. They are not ready for adding "information." Right now the goal is for them to learn the names of things and simple sentence structure. My higher ELLS definitely include all components of the K.I.M. Strategy in their notebooks. This is what the K.I.M. Strategy looks like. And this is how it looks modified for my newcomers... On Thursdays, I focus on building sight words. When teaching sight words, it's important to teach them in context. Your beginning ELs need context in order to make meaning of the words. I pull a sight word from our books and I include an extension activity with that word. (A link to this resource is provided at the bottom of this post.) I do teach sight words throughout the week, but on Thursdays we always have an extension activity for one of them. As an "exit ticket" I have them orally use the sight word. Today, I asked each student, "What can you do?" And they responded with "I can _____." Then they get a high five, a sticker (big kids like stickers too!), or some encouraging praise. I also include Word Study activities in my small group work. I like using the sorts from Words Their Way. Each Monday they receive a new spelling pattern. Remember, I assessed my students to see what they already knew. Most already knew initial sounds, so I started them with word families. If they did not know initial sounds, I would've started there. I do have one student in this group who does not know many initials sounds, so I spend a little extra focus with him on initial sounds. This resource is from "Words Their Way." My newcomers use this activity to learn spelling patterns AND vocabulary. They are introduced to their new word list on Mondays, then they have independent activities to do with their word list throughout the week in their gen ed classrooms. (It's so important to set newcomers up with meaningful activities that they can work on independently during Reader's Workshop.) Below is their Word Study Activities list. It gets glued into their Reading Notebook. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays they work on their independent activities. Friday is Word Study Quiz day! FREEBIE - Click Here And that's what small group instruction looks like with my newcomers. To recap, assess what students can do to evaluate your starting point. Focus on building vocabulary, sight words in context, word spelling patterns and choral reading to start. My guided reading lessons usually looks like... preview the book, front load main vocabulary, choral read, and end with a guided writing activity with sentence frames. Here's a TIP: Many times I make my own guided writing activity based on what I want the students to learn from the book. I'll write the activity in my notebook, make copies, cut them to size, then have students glue it into their notebook. Keep this notebook! You may get a newcomer next year, and when you do, many of your guided writing activities will already be made. You'll just need to find the book that goes with the activity. My notebook where I write out the guided writing activities. I know that many school districts lack ESL resources and often times the classroom teacher is the only one providing instruction. Knowing where to start with beginning English learners is probably the biggest challenge. I hope that this post gives you some ideas about where to start and what to focus on with your new students. To read more about the K.I.M. Strategy, click here. Affiliate links below for Sight Words and Word Study.

Create fun and engaging pre-writing activities for preschoolers to help them practice their hand writing skills with these 50 simple to set up ideas!

The six word memoir is a quick and creative way to get students thinking and writing about their own lives. Whether you use it for an icebreaker (which makes a great display!) at the start of school or as part of an identity or personal narrative unit, this engaging activity pulls together reflection, writing and visuals to produce a memorable moment of connection with your student writers. This curriculum set now comes with a Google drive link to an editable version of the student instructions and handouts. I hope that's helpful! From the Reviews: "I'll be using this during the first week of school with my sophomores. I've done six-word memoirs with my students before, but I love that you have added an artistic element. I also appreciate the short reflection assignment, as reflection is a very important part of my classroom culture. Thanks!" "Great activity to use during the first week. Will be using as a lead in to a 5 paragraph essay. Thanks!" "Easy to use. Open-ended enough to allow creativity." Here's what's inside: Clear project instructions Two template options to help students combine their words and imagery An optional reflection to extend the writing process once the six word memoirs are complete Please check out the preview to see the handouts in detail. Looking for more creative ideas for your English classroom? Check out The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast! Did you enjoy this activity? Please share your thoughts by leaving a review! You'll get free credits towards your next purchase, and think of the karma. Love combining visuals with ideas in class? Check out these popular one-pager activities.

Writing instruction often fits into a small corner of the day. This makes it so challenging to find time to teach grammar, spelling, punctuation, and all the other foundational skills students need to be more effective writers. While working through the writing process is an important piece of writing instruction, many

What are Scrambled Paragraphs? Scrambled paragraphs are sentences taken from a complete paragraph for your students to rearrange. They are like puzzles your students will put back together using what they know about text structure. Teachers

Handwriting practice for kids can be fun with these 21 handwriting activities that are great to add to your plans!

1-2-3 come Do Some Chrysanthemum Activities With Me “Chrysanthemum” by Kevin Henkes, is one of my all-time favorite back to school books. It’s perfect for a variety of ages, and especially wonderful as an introduction to name activities, as well as discussions about teasing, bullying and “filling buckets”. With that in mind, I enjoyed making a variety of Chrysanthemum-themed activities appropriate for PK-1st grade. I'll be sharing 3 of them in today's blog along with a sweet back to school FREEBIE. Because I like to mix math with literacy, I designed the Chrysanthemum Name Comparison Math Craftivity, where students compare their name with Chrysanthemum’s. I’ve included a simple PK version which can be done as a whole group, with an older elementary buddy, or done as homework with the assistance of a parent. There’s also a template suitable for kindergarten, 1st and 2nd, which involves some easy math, where students can show how they figured out their answer. Use the vowel, consonants and syllable posters to help explain things, then hang up for students to refer to. These can also be used as part of your display, as completed projects make an adorable bulletin board, or hung as a border on a hallway wall. I’ve included 2 “Mixing Math & Literacy” display posters for this as well. For extra pizzazz, punch a hole at the bottom and tie on a yarn "tail", or curl a white pipe cleaner and attach. There are 10 border options to choose from. Give your students a choice, or run off 2-3 of each of the worksheets so you have a nice variety in your display. Girls can add a bow to their mouse, and boys can opt to leave it off if they want. For an added splash of color, mount the worksheet on a variety of colors of construction paper before students glue their mouse head to the top. Next up, is another quick, easy and fun “print & go” name craftivity. I call them "sliders". Simply choose which name slider you want your kiddos to make. There are 6 options. I like my students to get some practice in making choices, so I run all of them off. I’ve included black and white patterns for kiddos to color, as well as templates in color, so that you can quickly and easily make examples to share. Mounting them on construction paper gives a splash of color and makes them sturdier. Run off the boxed “slider strips”, as well as the blank strips and trim. Children color Chrysanthemum, then write their name on the “slider” strip, by writing a letter in each box. If you have PK kiddos who don’t know how to write their name, you can have slider strips already written for them, or provide a name card for them to copy. I’ve included 6 matching name cards if you’d like to use these. Finally, I designed a Chrysanthemum-Inspired Class Name Booklet. At the beginning of the story, her parents explain why they named her Chrysanthemum, so I thought it would be fun to send a note home and ask parents why they chose their child’s name. Parents fill out the worksheet and their child colors it. After everyone has shared their page, collate the contributions, add the cover and you have a very interesting class-made book. Run off the "inside" pages and give children a choice. There are 7 girl-themed pages, plus 7 for boys. I share Dr. Seuss’s story “Too Many Daves”, then include those pages, along with the rose-quote poster in our booklet as well. We make several class books each month. They are always a favorite in our classroom "book" basket, and a big hit with parents at conferences. Adding a school photo to each page makes things extra special. Today's featured FREEBIE is also perfect for back to school. I not only give my students a little surprise treat on the 1st day of school, I do a little something extra special the entire week. For a quick, easy and inexpensive treat bag, fill up a Snack Baggie with Lucky Charms cereal and include my little note. There's also 2 "header" options if you want to put 1 at the top of your bag. Well that's it for today. My mom's visiting from Wisconsin, and I hear her stirring on this beautiful morning, so time to switch gears and go play outside. "Tears of joy are like the summer rain drops pierced by sunbeams." - Hosea Ballou

Use these handwriting activities to help kids work on and imporve handwriting legibility with fun ways to work on letter formation, line use, and placement.

A multiple choice quiz after reading is a quick and easy way to check student comprehension, but it doesn't allow you to assess deeper understanding and it certainly isn't fun or creative. If you are looking for more meaningful and engaging activities to use with students during literature circles or a novel unit, here's twelve ideas that are favorites in my classroom and the Common Core standards they align with.

Today I want to share several fun LEGO activities for auditory and visual processing skills, two important brain functions that contribute to our reading and writing abilities.

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 a theme is, you'll also want to go over what it isn't. For example, some kids confuse the main idea of the story with its theme. To help students understand the difference, it's helpful to use stories that everyone in the class knows, like previous read alouds or classic stories like The Three Little Pigs. You can take each story and discuss the main idea (what the story was mostly about - specific to the story) vs. the theme (the lesson the author wants the reader to know - not specific to the story), to contrast the two ideas. The second area of confusion for some kids is that the theme is not specific to the characters in the story. In the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, for example. The theme would not be that...A little mouse named Chrysanthemum learned to accept the uniqueness of her name. The theme would be larger than the book and would be something like...It's important to accept oneself. Also, you'll want to explain to your students that often times, a book has multiple themes and there are several answers which work equally well to describe a book's theme. Since theme is very subjective, I tell students that I will accept any answer, as long as they have the text evidence to prove it. For example, in the book, Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, one might argue that the theme is about friendship, another might say family, or even courage, or kindness. Any one of these themes would be right, and counted as such, since they each fit the story and could be supported by text evidence. 2. Use Pixar Shorts to Practice Theme Besides the sheer enjoyment which comes from watching these mini-films, your students can learn a lot about reading concepts from these. They're great for ELL students or for struggling readers, and for all readers really since the text complexity piece is removed. You can find these clips on YouTube, but you'll want to make sure to preview them first, so you're more familiar with the plot and are able to focus on theme questions. Here are some of my favorite Pixar Shorts for teaching theme: Piper Partly Cloudy Lava Boundin' 3. Use Mentor Texts Mentor texts are one of my go-to teaching tools as picture books are able to portray examples of just about any reading concept you need to teach. One thing I like to do when using mentor texts for theme, is to vary the types of questions I ask. Rather than always saying What is the theme?, I might ask... What is the deeper meaning of this story? After reading this book, what do you think matters to this author? Which idea from the story do you think might stay with you? What did the author want people to learn from this story?... Once kids answer, you might say, Ah...so that's the theme! Some of my current mentor text favorites for theme include the following: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe Journey by Aaron Becker (a wordless book) Beautiful Oops by Barry Saltzberg The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed If you're looking for more titles, I have a FREE Mentor Text List for Literature which includes a page on theme which you can download from my TpT store. 4. Use Posters with Themes to Chart Book Themes I like to choose 8 - 10 common themes and place posters of them in the classroom. These are included in my Theme unit but you could easily make them yourself if you'd like. After we finish a class novel, a read aloud, or a mentor text as part of a mini-lesson, I like to have the kids discuss the theme of the book. Once we decide on the theme, I place a miniaturized copy of the book's cover (about 3 x 3 inches or so) under the correct theme poster. You can also make the posters more interactive by allowing kids to write titles of books they have recently read on sticky notes, under the posters as well. 5. Use Songs to Practice Finding the Theme I love to add music to the classroom whenever possible. Not only does it add instant motivation for some kids, but it is also just good for them in so many ways. There are lots of songs you can use to teach theme, from current pop songs to oldies, rap songs, and country songs. While all of these work well, I especially enjoy using Disney songs. Disney songs are easily recognized for some kids, have catchy, fun tunes, and have lyrics that need no censoring (yay!). You can easily find the lyrics online to project on a smartboard or document projector, and the song clips may be found on YouTube, Here are some of my favorite Disney songs which work well for theme: Hakuna Matata from Lion King Just Keep Swimming from Finding Dory Reflection from Mulan Let it Go from Frozen Something There from Beauty and the Beast A Whole New World from Aladdin 6. Introduce Short Texts Using Task Cards Using task cards for theme gives your students a great deal of practice in a short period of time, which makes them a perfect way to begin to practice finding the theme using text. I love the fact that students can read multiple task card stories and practice finding the theme 20 - 30 times, in the time it might take to read a story and find the theme once. You can do task cards as a center activity, to play Scoot, or as a whole class scavenger hunt. One thing I like to do for the scavenger hunt is to make sure everyone has a partner and to pair stronger readers with struggling readers. 7. Add Some Writing After students have worked on theme for a week or two, I like to have students create their own short stories which show a strong theme, without directly stating it. This changes each student's role from a theme finder, to a theme creator and gives students insight into how authors create a situation that allows a theme to unfold. When I introduce this project, we refer back to the task cards we just completed, as an example of story length and rich content. In a matter of 2 - 3 paragraphs, students learn that they can include enough information to let our readers know our message. After students are finished creating these short stories, it's fun to share them in some way, to give more theme practice. Sometimes I have students meet in small groups to share out, with group members guessing the theme. Other years, I leave a stack on my desk and grab several if we have a few minutes. Either the students or I read the short story out loud, and the class discusses the theme. 8. Move to Passages, Short Stories, and Novels. Once we have scaffolded a great foundation for the understanding of theme, there comes a point where kids have to move on to text which is more challenging. I like to use page-long passages which I have created, before using short stories, and ultimately novels. If you're looking for some ready made materials to help you teach theme, here's a packet I love to use which works well for 4th and 5th Graders. Click here to read more about the Theme unit. Want some more teaching ideas and activities to teach theme? Click here to read Teaching Themes in Literature. If you like this post, make sure to share it with a teacher friend! Thanks so much for stopping by! 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