Let’s talk about it:  The words theme, message, moral are all synonyms.  When we think of any of these things, we’re really looking at what the story teaches us about life.

 In the book The Summer My Father Was Ten, a father tells his daughter the story of his mistakes as a young boy towards Mr. Bellavista and his garden.

 The theme in the story, The Summer My Father Was Ten is…  Treat others the way you want to be treated…or  Don’t do things you know are wrong or you might regret it!  Stories can have more than one theme sometimes!

 In this down south story, Uncle Jed is saving money for his own barber shop, when he uses most of his savings on a hospital visit for his niece. He ends up saving up all over again and opening his dream shop!

 In the story, Uncle Jed’s Barber Shop, the author is trying to teach us…  All people should be treated equally, regardless of your skin color.  If you pursue your dream, you will accomplish it.  You can do anything you put your mind to.

 So- what are some synonyms for the ‘theme’ of a story?  Moral or message  The theme of a story is really what the author…  Is trying to teach us about life!

 Usually, with fictional stories like A Bad Case of Stripes or Teammates, we look for a ‘theme’ when we are asking ourselves at the end.. ‘What did I learn from that?’  Does anyone remember what we call it when we ask ourselves this same question at the end of a non-fiction text, like Digging up a T-Rex?

 When we are focusing on a non- fiction text and we’re recalling the most important facts, that is always the main idea!  Let’s think back to a couple of non- fiction articles we have read!

 What was the main idea of “Tying the Score: Men, Women, and Basketball?  The facts proved that men were making more money than women to play professional basketball! They also had more fans at their games.  Do you notice how the main idea includes facts that we have learned from the article?

 What was the main idea of, “Food for Thought: Cafeteria Menus Shape Up?”  This article mainly taught us that school lunch nutrition has gone down hill. Children are gaining weight and not able to concentrate as well on their school work!  Again, we are looking at the important facts we have learned from the article.

 We are going to be focusing on theme this week, since we have already mastered the main idea!  What is the theme of a story again?  The theme is what the story is teaching us (lesson, moral, or message)  Remember- we find theme in fictional books!