Teaching Theme and Inference

THEME

This summer, there has been a huge focus on THEME. My students were having a hard time distinguishing between THEME and the main idea.  So, I decided to use one of my favorite Pixar short films to illustrate the idea of theme.  

The theme for this short film is "Treat others how you want to be treated." or "What goes around comes around." 

The video is fun, engaging and with the right questioning, students can easily tell the difference between the Theme and the Main idea. Yes, this is a video about birds being mean to another bird (main idea), but what is the deeper lesson that the animator is trying to teach us?  

I also typically have an anchor chart in my room that looks like this 

Themessage --> The Theme is the Message. 

INFERENCING

In the last couple of lessons, we have also encountered inferencing which can be tricky for students. I tell students that inferencing is just making assumptions based on evidence. Authors don't just come right out and tell us everything about the characters and the plot. Instead, they give us clues that are hidden in the details of the story that we have to add together in order to get the full picture.  I also try to find videos in which students must use inferencing to understand the message.  Pixar shorts are very useful, because there is typically no dialogue. 

This Pixar film is perfect for inferencing.

The next one is great for inferring right from the get go... Infer the setting, the profession of the man, what might happen, character feelings based on actions and expressions, etc. 

 The video below is adorable and shows an example of inferencing gone wrong. :)