1. Welcome Walk in Work: Pick up a pink theme chart and a copy of Wings
Take out your notebooks and label your next A and B page “Theme”
Welcome
Walk in work

2. Theme
Theme – a statement the author makes about life, society, or how the world works.
Please copy this definition onto your A page and paste/staple/tape the chart below it.

3. How do I find it? (Take notes)
Readers can find theme by looking at:
how character(s) change throughout a text
what is the main character’s biggest struggle
how a conflict is resolved
how characters treat and talk about each other
symbols or things that pop up again and again

4. Building a theme-Going through the progression LEVEL 1
Start with 2 or 3 simple (6th grade) themes. Here are just a few if you’re stuck.

5. Building a theme-Going through the progression LEVEL 2
Think about what the author is trying to teach the reader or listener.
What is the life advice or lesson that they learned or failed to learn themselves?
Don’t forget:

6. Building a theme-Going through the progression LEVEL 3
Think about what the author is saying about your level 1 ideas and how they work in the real world.
Tell us the issue (could be positive or negative) without trying to solve it for someone.
Don’t forget: Talk about people in general, not specific characters or conflicts.
In life there are people who can help others achieve their goals. There are also people who will bring others down.
In general, people do not achieve their dreams unless they work hard.
Level 

7. Theme progression- “Why couldn’t I have been Ashley?”
Level 1: several single word concept or idea
Example: identity, pride, embarrassment, difference.
Level 2: life lesson, metaphor, bumper sticker phrase
Example: You shouldn’t being embarrassed by your differences.
Level 3: how the level 1 ideas work in the world (universal)
Tell us the issue (could be positive or negative) without trying to solve it for someone.
Example: People get embarrassed about being different from others.

8. partner work- Wings
Do a theme progression using the text to remember back to details.
Level 1: 2-3 concepts or ideas
Social pressure, popularity, material stuff, hope, greed
Level 2: life lesson or phrase
Material possessions are not everything even if the world tells us so.
Level 3: How those concepts work in the real world.
Could start like:
In our society/world/life… people _____________
NO YOU SHOULDS/SHOULDNTS, US etc
In our world, expensive material possessions are a sign of status. People will do anything to get those things and that status.

9. HOMEWORK
Do a theme progression for your book on Reading 2B under your “Wings” progression.
Level 1: 2-3 concepts or ideas
Level 2: life lesson or phrase
Level 3: How those concepts work in the real world.
Could start like:
In our society/world/life…