Themeandgenre:TalesofCourage

byKarinStefans

Learningoutcomes/objectives:
Studentswill:
Verballyexplainthethemeofapicturebookbydiscussingthepicturebookwithina
smallgroup.
Verballydefendtheirclaimofapicturebooksgenrebasedonthecharacteristicsofthe
bookandthegenre.
CreateaVenndiagramtocompareandcontrastthethemeoftheirgroupsbookwith
anothergroupsbook,citingspecificcharacteristicsofthegenresofbothbooks.

Standards:
CCSS.ELALITERACY.RL.6.9
Compareandcontrasttextsindifferentformsorgenres(e.g.,
storiesandpoemshistoricalnovelsandfantasystories)intermsoftheirapproachestosimilar
themesandtopics.

ISAILStandard4
Appreciateliteratureandothercreativeexpressionsofthoughtsandideasand
pursueknowledgerelatedtopersonalinterestsandaestheticgrowthDevelopaknowledgeof
genresandliteraryelements
Benchmark:
C.Distinguishamongdifferenttypesandelementsofliterature
Objectives:
2.Readliteraturefromadiversityofplacesandperspectives
3.Readvariousgenres
6.Participateinand/orleaddiscussionsaboutliteraturetoshareopinionsand
responses

GradeLevel/LearnerPopulation/GroupingArrangements:
sixthgradestudentsincluding
specialeducationandgiftedstudents:groupedintoheterogeneousgroupsoffourstudents

Time:
Two40minutelessons

Environment:
Schoollibrary

Placement:
Thislessontakesplaceafterstudentshavereceivedinstructiononthe
characteristicsofvariousgenres.Studentshavealsohadbasicinstructionontheconceptof
theme.Boththetermsthemeandgenrearereview.
Allofthestudentshaverecentlyreadorheard
TheLorax
byDr.Seuss.Studentshave
heardthisstorymanytimesandareallveryfamiliarwiththestory.

Materials:
1)
Themegraphicorganizer
:

Findingthemessage:Graspingthemesinliterature.
Scholastic.com.(n.d.).RetrievedMarch
21,2016,from
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/topteaching/2011/02/helpingstudentsgrasptheme
sliterature
2)Largeblankchartpaper(onepergroup)
3)Markersforeachgroup

Resources:
1)Seuss.(1971).
TheLorax.

NewYork:RandomHouse.
2)
Picturebookswiththetheme/topicofbravery:
Engle,M.,&Lpez,R.(2015).Drumdreamgirl:Howonegirl'scouragechangedmusic.
NewYork:HoughtonMifflinHarcourt.
Funke,C.C.,&Bell,A.(2007).
Igrainethebrave.
NewYork:ChickenHouse.

Hesse,K.,&Watson,W.(2004).
ThecatsinKrasinskiSquare.
NewYork:ScholasticPress.
KosteckiShaw,J.S.(2015).
Lunaandme:Thetruestoryofagirlwholivedinatreeto
saveaforest
.
NewYork:ChristyOttavianoBooks,HenryHoltandCompany.

Lester,J.,Pinkney,J.,Bierhorst,J.B.,&DialBooksforYoungReaders.(1994).
JohnHenry.

NewYork:DialBooks.
Winter,J.(2014).
Malala,abravegirlfromPakistan/Iqbal,abraveboyfromPakistan
.New
York:BeachLaneBooks.

InstructionalRoles:
librarianleadinglesson,classroomteachersupporting

ActivityandProceduresforCompletionDay1
Focusingevent:
1.Ask:Whatdoesthememean?(Themoralormessageorgenerallessonaboutlifethata
storygives.)
2.Ask:Whatwouldyouconsidertobethethemeof
TheLorax?
Why?(Ifisimportanttoprotect
treesandtheenvironmentbecausehumansaretheonlybeingswhocanstopthedestructionof
MotherEarth.TheLoraxtalksabouttheimportanceofprotectingthetrees.Hesays,Ispeakfor
thetrees.Hesays,Unlesssomeonelikeyoucaresawholeawfullot,nothingisgoingtoget
better,itsnot.Whenthetreesaregone,allofthetheanimalsleave,too).

Modeling:
3.Displayablankcopyofthethemegraphicorganizer.Completethegraphicorganizeras
studentsanswerthepromptedquestions.Say,Letsreview
TheLorax.
Whoarethecharacters
in
TheLorax
?(TheLorax.Thenarrator.)Whatisthesetting?(Aforest.Planetearth.Some
placesortoflikeEarth.)Whatistheproblem?(Allofthetreesarebeingdestroyed.)
Summarize
TheLorax.
(AmanwantedtomakeThneedsoutofthetrees,sohecutthemall
downeventhoughtheLoraxwarnedhimnotto.Whenhedidcutdownallofthetrees,theland

wasruinedandeveryonewassad.)

Whatlessonislearned?WhatisTHEMEssage?(The
Earthisworthprotecting.HumanshavetoprotecttheEarth.Dontbegreedy.Conservationis
important.)

Studentpractice:
4.Say,Youwillnowbereadingapicturebookofyourown.Asyoureadwithyourgroup,fillout
thethemegraphicorganizer.Also,thinkaboutthethemeofyourstory.
5.Dividestudentsintosixgroupsoffour.Passoutonebookandonegraphicorganizerper
group.
6.Studentsreadassignedbooksandcompletegraphicorganizerswiththeirgroups.Teacher
circulatestomonitor,answeradditionalquestions,andguidestudentsifsheseesthem
strugglingtofindthethemeWhataresomecharactertraitsthatyouwouldusetodescribethe
protagonist.(Brave.Courageous.Standsupforhimself/herself/others.Doesntcarewhatother
peoplethink.)Doesthecharacterbenefitfromthesetraits?Aretheypositivetraits?(Yes,the
characterbenefitsfromthesepositivetraits.)Whymighttheauthorhavewrittenthisstory?
Doestheauthorthinkbraveryisagoodthing?(Theauthorwantstoteachkids.Theauthor
thinksbeingbraveisagoodthing).TeachershouldmakenotesusingtheDiscussionchecklist
fromtheassessmentsectionofthislesson.

Closure
7.Onceallgroupshavereadtheirbooksandhavecompletedtheirgraphicorganizers,say,
Nowyouwillsummarizeyourbooktothegroupandexplainwhatyouthinkthethemeis.Take
oneortwominutestodecidewhowillspeak.
8.Aseachgrouppresentstheirbook,takenotesonthethemesandtopicsdescribed.Record
themesontheboard.Allthemesshouldrelatetotheideathatbeingbravecanbescary,butis
veryimportantandholdsmanybenefitsforthepersonwhoisbraveand/ortherestofsociety.
Keepthesenotesandsay,Wewillcontinuediscussingbraveryinthesebooksduringournext
lesson.

ActivityandProceduresforCompletionDay2
Focusingevent:
1.Say,Yesterday,wedeterminedthatallofourbookshavesimilarthemesrelatingtothetopic
ofbraveryorcourage.However,weallreaddifferentbooksthatcouldfallintodifferentgenres.
Whatdoesgenremean?Whataresomeexamplesofgenres?(Genreisthetypeofstorya
pieceofwritingis.Forexample:sciencefiction,realisticfiction,adventure,historicalfiction,
horror,fantasy,folktales.Specificgenreshavespecificcharacteristics.Allsciencefiction
storieswillhavesomesimilarcharacteristics.)Whatgenrewouldyouconsider
TheLorax
byDr.
Seusstobe?Why?(Fantasybecauseitisinamadeupworld.Fablebecauseitisacautionary
tale.)

Modeling:
2.Say,Takefiveminutestodiscusswithyourgroupanddecideuponthegenreofyourbook.
Youwillshareyourresponsewiththeclass.

3.Eachgroupsharestheiridentifiedgenrewiththeclass.

Studentpractice:
4.Say,Youwillnowpairupwithanothergroup.YouwillcreateaVenndiagramonthelarge
chartpapertocompareandcontrasthowyourtwostoriescommunicatethethemeofbravery.
Considerhowishistoricalfictiondifferentfromfantasy?Howisadventuresimilartoafolktale?
Howarethepartsofthestorycharacters,setting,problems,etc.differentbetweengenres?
Thinkaboutit.ThinkaboutReadinglikeaWriter.
5.StudentsshouldspendtherestoftheclasstimeworkingontheirVenndiagrams.

Closure
6.HavethegroupspresenttheirVenndiagrams.

Differentiation:
Becausethementortextsinthislessonarepicturebooks,studentsneednot
relyonlyonthewordstocomprehendthethemeoftheirbook.Studentswithavisualpreference
and/orspatialintelligencewillbeabletousetheillustrationstoaugmenttheirunderstanding.
Studentswithauditorypreferencesandlinguisticintelligencewillbenefitfromreadingthestory
aloudasagroup.Studentswithinterpersonalintelligencewillbenefitfromworkingand
discussinginagroup.Studentswithintrapersonalintelligencewillbeabletoconnecttothe
charactersinthebookstodeveloptheirownunderstandingofthetopicofbravery.Possible
methodsofdifferentiationincludeteacherorinstructionalassistantreadingthebookswiththe
studentsandsupportingthediscussion.Additionalmethodsofdifferentiationcouldbeproviding
studentswithalistand/ordescriptionsofdifferentgenres.

Modifications
:Asthisisprimarilyagroupactivity,differentiationwilloccurnaturallythroughthe
useofheterogenousgroups.Groupswillbereadingthebooksaloudwithintheirgroupsand
shouldtaketurnswritingrecordinginformation.Studentswhoexcelwillbeabletoleadthe
group,whilestudentswhostrugglewithreading/writinghaveasupportsystemofpeers.No
modificationsarenecessary.

Assessment/Evaluation:
Observationschecklistforthesmallgroupdiscussionsaboutthemeandgenre.Checklistforthe
Venndiagram.

Groupdiscussionchecklist:
___Studentaccuratelyidentifiescharacters,setting,problem,and/orofastory.
___Studentoffersreasonablesummaryofthestoryand/orcorrectlyconfirmsorrefutesagroup
member'ssummary.
___Studentofferssuggestionofthemeandsupportssuggestionwithtextualevidence.
___Studentaccuratelydescribescharacteristicsofagenre.
___Studentgivesreasonablesuggestionofgenreofstoryandsupportsthoughtswithtextual
evidence.

___Studentlistenstogroupmembersrespectfully.

Venndiagramchecklist:
___Neatwork.
___Ideasarewrittenincompletethoughts.
___Titleandgenresofbothbooksclearlystated.
___Details/textualevidencesupportclaimsofgenreforbothbooks.
___Textualevidenceusestodescribedifferencesingenre/approachtotheme.
___Similaritiesofbooksareclearandlogical.

Extension/Followup:
Smallgrouporwholeclassdiscussion:Whatbookbestcommunicatesitstheme?Why?What
specificwords,phrases,oraspectsoftheillustrationsmakethethemeclear?

Eventually,studentsshouldcompleteasimilaractivity(comparingandcontrastingtwobooks
withthesamethemebutofdifferentgenres)independently.