Beverlee Paul
Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:50:19 -0700
I strongly agree with you both. Just relate it to a strategy discussion. In my way of thinking, "hope" doesn't communicate the synthesis of concepts. It doesn't make the synthesis visible. A single word may IMPLY something perhaps, but in order to make the theme explicit, you would need an entire sentence to describe how you've synthesized some of the concepts. That would be something such as "Hope helps people through difficult times," or "The products a farm produces depends on the geography of the region in which the farm is located." Only then would it be a theme as I understand thematic instruction. As a matter of fact, I've heard/read experts in integration say that something that can be described in a single word is sometimes/often a topic or a motif. Now, admittedly, they're thinking more in the line of Farms or Tropical Rain Forests or Pioneers or Teeth or Stuffed Animals, not something like Hope. But it seems a pity to not know or state what we want children to take from what they're reading. In my viewpoint, that's one of the strengths of curriculum mapping. If a teacher cannot provide an essential question, she probably doesn't know where she's going, why she's going there, and how she's going to get there. And strategy instruction would be a definite vehicle. You kind of have to pull back your "camera" and take a panorama view to get the whole picture. Debbie Powell and Dick Needham calls them "big understandings," and others call them other things, but I think Essentials Questions goes to the heart of the issue. If Hope is a theme, does it include both "Hope helps people through difficult times," and "Hope is misplaced when children are taken to Mexico so alternative medicine can cure them of leukemia"? Without a sentence, how would you know what the theme was? Even huge words like Hope, or maybe especially huge words like Hope, are multi-dimensioned and hold a multitude of themes. I'm still thinking, too. However, right now I think she'd be in a decided minority of people who considered themes as being one word concepts. Bev I agree with you, Bonita. I was at the Reading is Thinking workshop with Stephanie Harvey last week and she showed a video of 8th graders. The way she explained theme is with one word... like hope. That's not the way I learned theme as an English major. The theme (and there can be many in one book) must be expressed in a sentence. For example, "Hope helps people through difficult times." I was frustrated, but there were about 300 of us at the workshop, and I didn't feel as it was the appropriate place for a discussion. -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: Bonita DeAmicis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > My last comment for now on this chapter is one where I vary from the authors, > although I am thinking they are addressing it on an elementary level in this > book and so keeping it simple. I feel like the coverage of "theme" in the > inference chapter is not how I see theme. To me, what they are talking about > here is topic. So on page 144 when they talk of students finding themes like > friendship, loneliness, courage--I think of these as topics that can lead to > themes. The themes to me would be the messages the author sends about these > topics. So I do have my students search for topics, but then we discuss the > author's message about the topic and we look for text evidence that hints at or > supports the message. It is a larger step in theme, but I find upper elementary > students can do this. _________________________________________________________________ http://newlivehotmail.com _______________________________________________ Stw2chat mailing list Stw2chat@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/stw2chat_literacyworkshop.org. Search the STW2 Chat Archives at http://snipurl.com/stw2archives.