I actually do it completely opposite. I teach that theme is not one word, like friendship. Rather that is the topic, or big idea of the book. What is it the author wants us to KNOW about the topic? "Friendship can help us get through hard times." or "Friendship can be lost if you do not nurture it." etc. I teach that theme needs to be a statement...what the author's message about the topic is. We have thematic units in our literature study, for instance we are doing "Growing Up" right now. Each book does not have the same theme, but they can all be connected with challenges or lessons about growing up. So each book has a different theme(s) about growing up.
We use Reader's Handbook (Great Source) and it has the students determine theme by a three step method. 1. What topics or 'big ideas' is the novel about? 2. What do characters say or do that relates to that topic? 3. What do these things tell you is important to learn about life? I like the definition the book uses, " A novel's theme is a statement that the author makes about life." Maura 5/NJ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Domina.Natasha" <domina.nata...@north-haven.k12.ct.us> To: mosaic@literacyworkshop.org Sent: Monday, November 9, 2009 7:34:14 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [MOSAIC] Theme vs. author's message Not going on any research, just my own opinion-- I think of theme as more of one word summing up a big idea: "friendship", "loss", "tolerance". I think of the author's message as more of a sentence that tells what we think the author thinks about those big ideas: "We should be friends with all kinds of people," "Talking about our loss helps us heal." Maybe (I'm thinking as I write here), themes tell what big ideas are explored and author's message tells the conclusion we've drawn from exploring those big ideas....? Natasha _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
