Students will gain knowledge about the idea of themes in literature in this session. At the end of the lesson, students are able to:
- Examine the setting, characters, story, and topic of a work of fiction.
- Develop knowledge of more significant concerns that are present in the text.
- Determine the theme and provide textual evidence to back it up.
- Ascertain why the theme is essential for understanding.

- How does interaction with text provoke thinking and response?
- How can literary and factual texts become meaningful to strategic readers?
- What is the true purpose of this text?

- Fiction: Any story that is the product of imagination rather than a documentation of fact. Characters and events in such narratives may be based in real life, but their ultimate form and configuration are a creation of the author. 
- Theme: A topic of discussion or writing; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work.

- Margaret Wild. (2011). Fox. Allen & Unwin Academic.
- Cynthia Rylant. (2000). The Old Woman Who Named Things. Sandpiper.
- a selection of books by Cynthia Rylant or other authors such as Bill Peet, Eve Bunting, Allen Say, and Dr. Seuss
Teachers may substitute other books to provide a range of reading and level of text complexity. Alternative books should include language, symbols, or feelings that provide evidence for identifying the theme.
- copies of Theme Review Graphic Organizer (L-4-2-2_Theme Review Graphic Organizer)
- theme poster created in Lesson 1
- chart paper
- index cards

- During the class, emphasize the necessity of determining the main topic of a tale to demonstrate comprehension. Talk with the pupils to find out whether they can recognize and grasp the subject.
- Examine pupils' ability to recognize themes in a text informally using your notes and anecdotal observations.
- Have pairs read a chosen Aesop fable after the class and determine the theme. Look for additional fables that are appropriate for the reading levels of your pupils, or browse the resources provided under Related Resources. Utilize the subsequent standards to assess pupils' comprehension:
+ Students show that they can identify a fiction work's theme.
+ Students provide textual evidence to bolster the theme.

Explicit instruction, modeling, scaffolding, and active engagement 
W: Assist students in identifying a story's theme by providing evidence from the text to back up their conclusions, and explain how theme identification enhances understanding. 
H: Introduce students to the theme through a group reading of a picture book and assist them in realizing through conversation how their own lives are centered around it. 
E: Give students a range of novels to study to practice recognizing themes and contrasting and comparing them. 
R: Give students comments so they can make changes and reconsider the theme they chose. 
E: Allow students to evaluate their own comprehension of the theme during discussions with you and their peers. 
T: Provide a range of picture books for students to read and permit themes to be expanded in accordance with their learning levels to enable flexible grouping based on their reading levels. 
O: The purpose of this lesson plan is to assist students in recognizing and defining a theme in fiction by having them identify a theme and then provide evidence from the text to support their selection. 

Main question: How can readers identify themes in fiction?

Read aloud "Fox" by Margaret Wild or another appropriate book. Students can assist you in filling in a story map by helping to identify the character, setting, problem, solution, and outcome. Ask, "What theme is the author attempting to convey?" (friendship and concern for others) Put it on the narrative map. Inform the class that the goal of this session is to learn how to identify a theme and provide evidence for it using specifics from the text.

Part 1

Put "Themes That Children's Authors Like to Write About" on a chart paper page. Mention how a theme might be an issue, topic, or worry and how it's frequently referred to as the story's moral—a perspective on life and human nature. Ask students to identify potential topics that should be listed on the chart paper. Friendship, loss, bravery, hope, violence, love, family, bullying, and self-worth are a few examples. Retain this anchor chart for use in lesson 3.

"Explain the meaning of 'theme' in your own words," you can instruct. Allow pupils to finish this assignment in a few minutes.

Ask students to define a theme with a partner at a meeting. As they have the chance to edit their definitions, encourage students to provide comments to each other.

As the class reconvenes as a whole, invite volunteers to discuss their interpretations of the theme. The theme could be the lesson the writer wishes to impart to us or the significant subject the story is centered around, to name a couple of plausible responses.

Tell pupils that there can be multiple themes in stories and that various people will interpret the same topic in different ways.

Inform students that to support our choice of a text's theme, we should choose specific details from the text. Say, "When stating the theme, you do not concentrate on the character in isolation or on particular details of the story. To ascertain what the author wishes to impart to the reader, consider the events and acts of the characters taken collectively."

Read aloud Cynthia Rylant's book The Old Woman Who Named Things or another suitable book. Demonstrate the ability to recognize a topic and locate corroborating evidence within the text.

Theme: loneliness and loss (put these on the anchor chart if they aren't already).
Support: Due to the deaths of several of her friends, the woman only listed items that wouldn't outlast her. Because she fears outliving the dog and experiencing loneliness once more, she won't give it a name.

Show students how to finish Theme Review Graphic Organizer (L-4-2-2_Theme Review Graphic Organizer).

First, write the book's title on the scroll.
Next, fill in the speech bubble with the theme.
Lastly, provide textual evidence to back up the diamond's concept.

Part 2

Put some books on display. Group the pupils into threes and give each group three books. Each student should read a book in their group and complete Theme Review Graphic Organizer (L-4-2-2_Theme Review Graphic Organizer)

Give each group's members instructions to talk about the books and come up with a list of the things they learned. Urge students to reconsider and edit their work during the talks. Make sure groups are appropriately identifying themes and providing relevant textual evidence for them by moving about the room and having discussions with them.

As a group, when the students have had a chance to talk about all three of their novels, go over what they learned about recognizing themes and providing evidence from the text to support their decisions. "Why does recognizing the theme help us comprehend the story better?" (It reveals the main idea and highlights the story's main problem.) On the anchor chart, note any themes that are not listed.

Extension:

For those pupils who are prepared to go above and beyond, assign them to design an online search where they must locate books or other resources related to a particular theme. Ask students to mention the resources or books and the website where they can be located. The websites http://www.tc.umn.edu/~gale0025/webpage.htm and http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/classrooms/a/web_page_design.htm 
can assist you with creating a web page.
For extra practice, students can design a book-based party theme and select three novels that go along with it.