Part A: Lesson Planning

To be completed before teaching the lesson

Theme Review
Your Name and the Date on which the plan will be taught: Amie Weyer 1/19/18
Grade Level: 4th grade
Length of Lesson: Approximately 30 minutes for review game. Test time 1 hour

LEARNING GOALS
CENTRAL FOCUS OF LEARNING SEGMENT: Theme- this is the sixth and final lesson in a series
of six.

PURPOSE(S): Review theme in short passages

LEARNING OBJECTIVE(S): At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
-write the theme of a short passage.
-explain the theme of a short passage using key information from the passage.

Primary Subject Area(s): Reading

Standard(s): 4.RL.4.1 Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics and
patterns of event in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS
KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MY STUDENTS THAT WILL INFLUENCE THE DESIGN OF THIS PLAN:
According to my Background Information for Planning Task’s “Student Survey,” the majority of my
students indicated that they liked reading in school, but most of them did not put it as their favorite
subject. During the lesson, students will listen to passages and write the theme of the passages as
quickly as they can. They will be in groups because more than half of my students said they are
okay with working in small groups and they’ll be in groups as I read the passage. Once they have
talked about it with their group, the students will type their answers into a Padlet, which is an
electronic board that students can post and others who can access the link can see what is on it.
This is on their Chromebook because most of the student indicated they enjoy using technology.
Once the group who has the answer up the quickest and is correct they receive a point. After we
will discuss as a whole group how we found the answer in the passage. This lesson allows for
students to read and use technology most of their needs are met.

PREREQUISITE OR SUPPORTING SKILLS NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS:

[Identify skills students NEED to have before they will be able to learn what is in this lesson:
Vocabulary: theme, message, lesson, moral, inferred
Conceptual Understanding: The message, or lesson, that the author wants you to learn from the
story.

PRIOR ACADEMIC LEARNING & PRE-ASSESSMENT INFORMATION:

In third grade, students were introduced to the idea of theme and how we can find the theme in a
story through the Indiana State Standard 3.RL.2.2 that says, “retell folktales, fables, and tall tales
from diverse cultures; identify the themes in these works.” The students have had practice with
theme in third grade, but have not had much practice with theme in fourth grade. Mrs. Lange has
introduced the topic to the students and explained to the students what it is and how we can apply
theme to when we are reading. They have practiced working with theme for the past week. They
are reviewing what they learned from the week to make sure they fully understand what theme is. I
want to strengthen my students confidence in practicing theme and give them to opportunity to
apply what they have learned. The students are ready for this lesson because they have been
reading fiction text and picking out the main idea of the text and telling us why theme is important.
Having worked with this, the students can take the key parts of the story and help turn it into what
the author is trying to tell us.

SPECIFIC STUDENT NEEDS:

Student Initials Type of need
[may be multiple] [ELL/IEP/Specific skill deficit/GT/High performing]
BC, OA, BA IEP
Lower level- read one level below grade level
-Understanding an comprehending story
-Can easily get distracted
MA, MK 504
-Loses attention easily
MA, MJ, PD ELL Students
-All high functioning English

One Significant Learning Modality [not linguistic] and how it will be utilized:
Interpersonal: Throughout the lesson, the students will be working in small groups. They will have to
communicate the key information to each other in order to solve what the theme is. They will have to discuss
what the theme is and decide how they are going to write it on the Padlet. They will then discuss how they
know the theme is what it is by finding evidence from the text.

One Significant Aspect of Character and how it will be fostered:

Respect for Others: Throughout the lesson, I will be circling the room and so will Mrs. Lange. The
students will work together to listen to each other’s thoughts about what the theme is. They will
have to listen, pay attention, and not talk while others are stating their idea about the theme. They
will have to give their full attention to their peers who are talking and by this they will be
demonstrating respect for others.

One Significant Habit of Mind and how it will be fostered:

Apply Past Knowledge to New Situations: Students will use what they learned about theme from the lessons
from the previous week and lessons from Tuesday to Wednesday to help them answer the example correctly
for the activity.

Co-Teaching Strategy/ies that will be used:

 One Teach, One Observe- During direct instruction, I will have the primary instructional
responsibility of introducing the lesson and reviewing what theme is. Mrs. Lange will be walking
around the classroom in order to make sure all the students are on task. I will introduce what the game
consists of.
 One Teach, One Assist- Once the game is explained, the students will be in their groups. I will be
reading the information in the passage. Once I finished reading, Mrs. Lange and I will walk around to
the groups to hear their ideas for the theme of the passage. She can help guide conversations in the
groups as well.

ORDER OF TEACHING with PROCEDURES:

RECALL PREVIOUS LEARNING-LESSON: I will ask the students to recall what we have been
working on in reading the past few days during instruction. How can we find this in the story? (We
have been practicing with theme and how we can find it in a story.) (We can determine the theme
in a story by seeing what the characters learned, how they grew or changed, and why the
characters act this way.)
ATTENTIONAL PROMPT(S): (Visual/Relevant) Show the students this visual and ask them what
they can gather from this. This will be on the board as we start reading. They can think about this as
we recall what we previously learned.

Words used to tell the children the purpose of the lesson: Today we are going to review and
practice what theme is from the past week and see if we can put our thoughts together to find the
message.

Words used to tell the children the objective of the lesson: By the end of this lesson, you will be
able to read a passage and talk about and write what the theme is.

INSTRUCTIONAL AND ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

DIRECT INSTRUCTION: One teach (Ms. Weyer), One Observe (Mrs. Lange)

I will quickly review what theme is.

Theme is the message, lesson, or moral the author wants you to learn from the story.
It is the heart of the story.
Things you need to ask yourself-
-What did the characters learn?
-How did the characters grow or change?
-Why did the characters act this way?

ACTIVE LEARNING-LISTENING STRATEGY/IES (ALLS):

Have students find their notes and highlight in their notes as we discuss each component of theme.

GUIDED PRACTICE: One Teach (Ms. Weyer), One Assist (Mrs. Lange)

ACADEMIC MOTIVATOR(S):
(Learning Material/ Learning Activity) Using white boards, the students should write down key
information from the passages to help guide in what the theme is. They will use what they write
down and discuss to put the information on a post-it on Padlet on their Chromebook. Once I finish
reading the passage, the students will have to talk quickly with their group members to decide what
the theme is. The team that puts their answer on Padlet first and is correct will receive a point.

ACTIVE LEARNING-LISTENING STRATEGY/IES (ALLS):

Small ALLS: While I am reading the passage, students in the group will right down key ideas to
what is leading them to believe the author’s message or theme is in the passage.

INFORMAL FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS Students will put their answers on Padlet post-it to each
passage. I will not show the students the post-its on the screen until I have received an answer from
all groups.

-The group with the correct answer and the fastest will explain how they found the theme of the
passage.

CLOSURE: I will ask the students, “What did we review today?” (Theme) I will ask, “How can we
determine the theme in a story?” (We can determine the theme in a story by seeing what the
characters learned, how they grew or changed, and why the characters act this way.) (Say answer
to partner and then aloud as a whole group.)

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT: During this time, students will work on a reading comprehension
test. This will have questions regarding the story they read for the past two weeks and over theme,
which is what we reviewed before the test. They will work on this independently. This will provide
me feedback on how well my students understood the idea of theme.

Student Initials Type of need Differentiation

BC, OA, BA Reading -Students will have extended time when testing.
Comprehension -Being in a small group will help the students hear
each other’s ideas and how they process in the
information.
-I will allow students to be tested in a small group
-I will provide a paper copy for these students.
MA, MK Attention - I will have the student follow along by writing their
thoughts on white board.
- Mrs. Lange or I will make sure to keep the
conversation of the theme on track.
MA, MJ, PD High Functioning ELL - I will allow the student to see the passages while I am
Students reading them.

FORMAL FORMATIVE/SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT:

Students will have multiple-choice questions regarding the reading. Each question is worth the
same amount of points. (Reading Comprehension Test)

MATERIALS:
Prepared by TC:
 Padlet
 Theme Passages

Prepared by CT:
 Reading Comprehension Test
 Set up Padlet on computer and projector
 All students have access to whiteboard and eraser
 Chromebooks working properly

Sources/Resources
Image: http://statussayings.com/relationship-status-from-the-heart-for-him-her
Passages: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Theme-Task-Cards-with-Short-Stories-
and-Differentiated-Answer-Sheets-375245
Padlet: https://padlet.com/aweyer11/911c95v3nhns
Google Slides:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZYjiYlqvUJryb9ta2LzH4BbQfgsav7PscdSx6ofR5cI/edit?us
p=sharing\