A Better Way to Teach Theme in Literature To Elementary Students

HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING THEME WRONG? Maybe. I was. For a long time. And my students struggled because of it. I’d asked students the classic prompting questions like What did the character learn? or What was the problem that the character was facing? — all good questions. However when we ask our students to take the giant leap from answering those prompts to identifying theme, we lose them. What they really need is the bridge to get from the prompt to theme.&nb...