Universal Themes in Literature Mini Posters Set
This Really Good Stuff® product includes:
• Set of 12 Universal Themes in Literature Mini
Posters, laminated • This Really Good Stuff® Activity Guide
Congratulations on your purchase of this Really Good Stuff®
Universal Themes in Literature Mini Posters Set—an
interactive display that describes the various types of themes
in literature and encourages students to explore the concept
of theme as they read.
Meeting Common Core State Standards
This Really Good Stuff® Universal Themes in Literature Mini
Posters Set is aligned with the following Common Core State
Standards for English Language Arts:
Key Ideas and Details
RL.1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate
understanding of their central message or lesson.
RL.2.2 Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse
cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
RL.3.2 Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from
diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral
and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
RL.4.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in
the text; summarize the text.
RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in
the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond
to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic;
summarize the text.
Displaying the Universal Themes in Literature Mini Posters
Set
Before displaying the Posters, make copies of this Really
Good Stuff® Activity Guide and file the pages for future use.
Or, download another copy of it from our Web Site at www.
reallygoodstuff.com. Hang the Posters where students will be
able to see them easily, leaving plenty of space either around,
or beneath each Poster.
Introducing the Universal Themes in Literature Mini Posters
Set
Gather students in a circle near the displayed Posters.
Select a read-aloud story with an explicit theme (such as
The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss). Make multiple copies of the
book cover or create index cards with the book’s title and
author. Prepare a T-chart on a piece of chart paper or on
your classroom board, with the author, title, and the following
headings: Theme and Evidence. Read the selected story
aloud with your students, and ask volunteers to summarize
the story. Explain that summaries describe what occurs in
the story, which is the plot. Inform students that a story
may also have an underlying theme, message, or lesson. The
author can make the theme obvious, or the reader may have
to infer the theme. Sometimes the theme grows organically
throughout the story as the events lead to the conclusion.
Ask students if the story they just heard had a theme. Post
students’ ideas in the Theme column of the T-chart. Have
students share their reasoning with classmates, and add
quotes from the text and their page numbers to support
these ideas in the Evidence column. Direct students’ attention
to the Universal Themes Posters, and ask which theme(s)
fit(s) best. Post the copy of the book cover or the index card
beneath the Poster(s). (The Tolerance Poster is the best
answer for The Sneetches.)
Multiple Themes
Your classroom discussion will likely lead to the conclusion that
a book may have multiple, overlapping themes. Tell students
that as the year progresses and as they read more books,
they will look to the Posters to see if the books they are
reading fit one or more of the universal themes displayed, and
then post copies of their book covers under the corresponding
Posters.
Encountering New Universal Themes
As your students encounter themes that are not included in
this Posters Set, fill in and color a copy of the Universal Themes
Poster Reproducible, and add it to your classroom display.
Uncovering the Evidence
After the class has explored several themes together, divide
your students into small groups and provide each group with
a copy of the Universal Themes Evidence Record Reproducible.
Distribute a picture book to groups to read and then discuss/
debate applicable themes. Have each group find the theme
and evidence in the text, involving the characters and their
experiences, to support that theme. Direct them to record the
theme in the left-hand column, and the evidence (quotes and
page numbers) in the right-hand column. Alternatively, copy
and distribute the reproducible to each student to use as an
assessment.
Writing Connection
Assign a five-paragraph essay to students on the theme(s)
in a book they have read as a final project. The essay should
identify the theme(s), analyze how it is (they are)
illustrated, and incorporate quotes from the book to
support their analysis. Or, if multiple students have read
the same book, allow them to meet as a group to compare
and contrast their concept of the book’s theme, before
planning their own pieces. Encourage students to select
and use a graphic organizer that will help them arrange
their ideas; and direct students to a resource that will
help them select effective vocabulary and transition words
for their piece.
All activity guides can be found online.
Helping Teachers Make A
Difference®
© 2014 Really Good Stuff 1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com Made in USA #162510
®
Universal Themes Evidence Record Reproducible
Helping Teachers Make A Difference®
© 2014 Really Good Stuff® 1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com Made in USA #162510
Universal Themes Poster Reproducible
Helping Teachers Make A Difference®
© 2014 Really Good Stuff® 1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com Made in USA #162510