Objective
After reading a story, the students will be able to understand the basic idea/theme of the text.
Materials and Prep
- A storybook
- A whiteboard or large paper
- Markers or crayons
- Index cards
Activities
- Read a story aloud to the student, ensuring they are engaged and following along.
- After reading, ask the student to share what they think the story was about. Write their responses on the whiteboard or large paper.
- Discuss the different ideas/themes mentioned by the student. Encourage them to explain their reasoning and listen attentively.
- Together, select the main idea/theme of the story based on the student's input. Write it on an index card.
- Ask the student to draw a picture that represents the main idea/theme of the story on another index card.
- Have the student share their drawing with you and explain how it relates to the story's main idea/theme.
Kindergarten Grade Talking Points
- "When we read a story, we can find out what it is about."
- "Sometimes stories have a special idea or message called the main idea or theme."
- "We can think about what happened in the story and what the characters did to help us understand the main idea/theme."
- "After we read a story, we can talk about what we think the main idea/theme is."
- "We can draw a picture that shows the main idea/theme to help us remember it."
- "Sharing our drawings and explaining them helps us understand the main idea/theme even better."