Supporting Comprehension in Fiction: Understanding Themes and Ideas
According to Harvey and Goudvis(2000), "Themes in books are the underlying ideas, morals, or lessons that give the story its texture, depth, and meaning." Themes are things that we infer as readers from what the author creates in their story. For kids, we need to support their understanding of reading by developing their knowledge of the "big ideas" of life. As a reader then, they will use their schema and the author's message to construct the theme.
The following lessons will help you construct a strong understanding of this in your readers! Happy Reading!
According to Harvey and Goudvis(2000), "Themes in books are the underlying ideas, morals, or lessons that give the story its texture, depth, and meaning." Themes are things that we infer as readers from what the author creates in their story. For kids, we need to support their understanding of reading by developing their knowledge of the "big ideas" of life. As a reader then, they will use their schema and the author's message to construct the theme.
The following lessons will help you construct a strong understanding of this in your readers! Happy Reading!
Do you ever notice a character doing something over and over? What advice would you offer them? Can you use that advice for yourself? This strategy helps us to see a bigger picture as we read.
What is Plot vs. Theme?
How do your characters learn lessons from mistakes that happen in the story?
In your story, your character may exhibit strong feelings about something. What can these feelings help us learn about ourselves and the character?
As a reader sometimes while we read we can think of what the overall feeling you see in the text. For example, maybe the main character is struggling with another character's good fortune. Do you feel that the main character feels a little jealous? Then your seed word for the read that day would be "jealous". How can this seed word help you construct the theme? Let's try it together.
This strategy is all about the idea that authors are helping us to see the big picture of the world too. Do you think the author is teaching us about a bigger problem of the world? Think about what the real world issue is. What is the author telling you about it. Now think what does this mean to you?
How do we get kids to read close? This strategies shows kids how to read deep by asking four critical questions. We need to ask pause and ask ourselves these questions before, during, and after a read. Are you ready to read between the lines?
As we read, we might get to hear the main character through their words or thoughts. Does your character reflect about something that has happened? What does that reflection teach you about the character?
This strategy is a chance for us to think about some characters that are secondary in the story. Is there an older, wiser character that interacts with one of the main character? Does this character teach the main character something? This strategy will help us find the secondary sage so we can pay attention to what life lessons are offered in the book