Teacher: Olivia Martin

Teacher Education Lesson Plan Template

Core Components
Date: 01/12/15

Subject, Content Area, or Topic

Title ofShared
Lesson:
Theme
Reading,
Theme

Cooperating Teacher: Dr. Alison Reddy

Student Population

17
Learning Objectives

VBO 3.5.13-Identify the main idea (theme) in fiction

VBO 3.5.14-Identify major events & details that support the theme or main idea in fictional
text.
VBO 3.5.7-Determine important information to support main idea, opinions & conclusions.
SOL:
3.5 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional text and poetry.
f) Ask and answer questions about what is read.
g) Draw conclusions about text.
h) Identify the problem and solution.
i) Identify the main idea.(theme)
j) Identify supporting details.
k) Use reading strategies to monitor comprehension throughout the reading process
Virginia Essential Knowledge and Skills

To be successful with this standard, students are expected to:

draw conclusions about text to make meaning.
identify the problem (conflict) and solution, main idea or theme, and supporting
details.
Materials/Resources
Lyric packets for each student
YouTube lyric videos (pre-pulled up)
Students need highlighters
Safety (if applicable)
Time
(min.)
2-5
min

1 min

Process Components
*Anticipatory Set
Introduce idea of finding the theme: Remind kids about fablesconnect to prior
learning
I heard that you all have learned a little bit about fables this year. I was wondering if you
could tell me what you learned about fables?
*State the Objectives (grade-level terms)
Today we are going to be learning about finding the themes in different texts. Most
fictional texts have a theme and we are going to practice finding themes today.

McDonalds Draft (2010). Modified by Kreassig and Gould (2014) for use with student teachers.

8 min

5 min

*Instructional Input or Procedure

So what is a theme? A theme is the moral of a story or the message or Big Picture
that the author wants us to take away. Themes are opinions, not facts. And themes are
not one word answers. For example, last week we read the book Brave Irene. If we
were to try and find the theme for that book we wouldnt write Perseverance we would
want to talk about what happens when we persevere according to Irenes story. It is also
important to remember that theme is not the summary of a passage. It isnt Brave Irene
went to take the gown to the duchess and the wind blew it away. No, the theme of Brave
Irene is that if you persevere and work hard, you will achieve your goals.
There are some important, or essential questions about theme we need to ask ourselves:
1. What perspective does the author give about the world?
2. What is the lens/view point of the author?
Some Clues:
What happens to the main character in the story?
What meaningful conclusions can you make?
Sometimes, the title can give you a hint.
What does the author want you to take away from the story?
*Modeling
Do a Disney song
Colors of the wind:
*Check for Understanding
The teacher will walk around as students are doing their guided practice and assess for
understanding

10
min

*Guided Practice
Do a Disney Song
Fixer Upper
*Independent Practice

8 min

Do a Disney Song
Hakuna Matata

3 min

Assessment
Review answers for Hakuna Matata theme questions

5 min

*Closure
Review all of the themes discussed that day and share with their shoulder partners what
they felt was the theme that related most to their life.
Differentiation Strategies (enrichment, accommodations, remediation, or by learning style).
Audio, visual, kinesthetic presentations- through songs, discussion, lyric packets, lyric
videos, highlighting evidence- throughout lesson.

Classroom Management Issues (optional)

Have students understand that they can mouth the words to the song but if they sing out
loud, other students may not be able to understand and be distracted.
Lesson Critique. To be completed following the lesson. Did your students meet the objective(s)? What part
of the lesson would you change? Why?
The lesson went well as a whole. This is such a difficult subject to try and understand and articulate at any age. I found I
need to prewrite a few possible themes for each example and prepare a summary for the students about the story
surround the songs. This will allow all students to be on the same page when beginning the lesson and help the
conversation move faster. It is harder to create a theme to these songs off the cuff and articulate it in the students terms
so to have it prepared beforehand would be very helpful.
Intern Signature

Cooperating Teacher Signature

McDonalds Draft (2010). Modified by Kreassig and Gould (2014) for use with student teachers.

Date

McDonalds Draft (2010). Modified by Kreassig and Gould (2014) for use with student teachers.