Understanding the theme of a story can be challenging. Like all human beings, students want to take the easy way out. They read a difficult text and they want “the answer” to magically pop into their heads, without doing any mental stretching to get there. They think that we English teachers will look at any piece of writing, no matter how complex, and automatically understand everything the author did. Not so.
The difference between us and them, along with lots and lots of experience, is that we know there are steps one needs to take to uncover an author’s message. There’s no moral at the end of the story, so we need to look for clues within the lines to discover what the writer is trying to tell us.
IT’S LIKE DOING A PUZZLE
For years, I’ve used the metaphor of puzzle building to teach my students these steps. I tell them that as they read they need to scatter the pieces so they can put them all together and see the big picture–without the aid of the one on the puzzle box. Some things will be obvious, like the corners and edges, but others are much more difficult to place. However, as with puzzles, readers just need to put in the work it takes to patiently discover where that piece of sky actually fits.
Since using these stations in my class, I’ve tweaked them a bit, and they are now available HERE in my TpT store. I hope this activity can help your students better understand the process of discovering theme.
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I love this activity! Can't wait to use w/ my student!
Lyndsey
Lit with Lyns
Thanks, Lindsey. I just took in some writing assignments that showed me that the activity was a success!
Love it. What stories did you use?
I used "The Singing Silence" by Eva-Lis Wuorio, "Saturday Climbing" by WD Valgaardson, and "The Spaces Between Stars" by Geeta Kothari.
Hello, I managed to find copies of the first two stories, but can't seem to find "The Space Between Stars". Any idea of where I can find one? Thanks, Diane
Diane, email me at room213custom@gmail.com
Do you have any examples/photos of student statements written on the puzzle pieces or any exemplars to share? Thank you.
Just what you see on the pictures 😀
OK, thank you—they are not high resolution enough to read what kids wrote on the puzzle pieces even if you download them and zoom in. It would be helpful to have some exemplars to show students who are working below grade level.
Sorry, but I don’t have the originals anymore. Next time I’ll save some.
Do the groups work on different stories or on only one during this activity?
Hi, Angelique. In the activity I described above, they were all doing the same story, but there's no reason why you couldn't do multiple ones. You might want to read this post, as it shows what I do when the kids are reading independent novels: https://reallearningroom213.blogspot.com/2018/10/teaching-theme-when-everyones-reading.html