Is this the standard you are asking about? "Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text."
Here's what I'd do with it. Take a meaty children's book by someone like Eve Bunting or Patricia Polacco. I'd ask students to determine what the lesson in it is. Then, look at how characters change and grow throughout the text and figure out how that change is related to author's message. What does the setting have to do with the theme? Would the theme or lesson be the same if the setting were different? Think about how the author introduced a problem to the story---and then solved it--how did these relate to the lesson or theme? An objective summary would be the theme or lesson with major plot events that lead to that theme. I'd want kids to have some deep discussions, spend time close reading short sections of important parts of the text as part of the lesson. Anyone else? I started with the theme and then analyzed what the author did to develop that theme. You could just as easily analyze characters, setting plot--- and then use those to identify the theme. I personally prefer starting global and then looking at details. Other folks prefer to do the analysis first and find the global after studying the details. Jennifer On Jun 28, 2013, at 4:09 PM, "[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I live in Washington state. I feel confused that if the CCSS is national (well... 45 states), why there would be different tests in the West from in the East. I understand that to be true, but I don't know why. For 8th grade one of the reading literature standards is about theme and setting and plot. I'd like a lesson using a children's book that I can use to show my students what this standard means. We can then use that information with a more challenging book, but I always want to teach a new skill with an easy text. Jan Mosaic mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> 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 [email protected] 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
