6 Engaging Ways for Teaching Theme to Middle Schoolers

Theme is the heart of the story. Read here for how to incorporate theme into your middle school reading and writing lessons.

If you teach middle school language arts, you will definitely need to teach theme. After all, the theme is the heart of the story and the lesson the author wants you to learn. But how do you get middle school students to recognize this in their reading and incorporate it in their writing? It’s definitely not an easy task. Read here for effective ways of teaching theme to middle schoolers, and grab a freebie to help!

Read here for tips on teaching this important skill.

Why is Teaching Theme to Middle Schoolers Important?

To begin, I would argue that the most important purpose of reading quality fiction is to glean the theme. The theme is the lesson the author wants us to learn. Recognizing lessons in literature can open up students’ minds and hearts in ways we never thought possible.

Let’s look at Harry Potter for a moment. This story is obviously chock-full of themes. One that comes to mind is that family can be found in the people who care for you, not just those who are related to us. This is a very powerful theme, and one that many kids need to hear and understand. Obviously, the author doesn’t state this outright, but it is proven time and time again throughout the entire series.

Note: Kids (and adults) often mistake theme for the topic. The topic in the example above is family, but the theme is the actual lesson about the topic. Be sure to point this out to your students.

Make it Personal

Next, we need to make understanding theme “second nature” for our kids. One surefire way to get kids to understand theme (and anything, really) is to make it personal. This can be done easily and often throughout the year with questions. I like using the “Question” portion of Google Classroom to quickly and easily do this (go to the “Classwork” tab and then “Create” and then “Question”), or you can simply post and discuss. Here are some examples to get you started:

After a holiday, ask, “What is the theme of this holiday for you?”
After winter break, ask, “What was the theme of your winter break?”
Friendship: “Think of your best friend. What is the theme of your friendship?”
Family: “Think of a family member. What is the theme of your relationship?”
School: “What is the theme of your school year so far?”

You get the picture. And kids really, really like doing this! Definitely take the opportunity to do this yourself. Kids love learning about you as a person, plus your answer will provide a good example.

Use Direct Instruction for Teaching Theme to Middle Schoolers

I am all for student discovery, creative centers, and fun questioning. But at some point, kids need direct instruction. If you are a middle school teacher, chances are you have a reading workshop model in place. If you don’t, I highly recommend that you do mini-lessons to teach skills. All this means is that you are using direct instruction, but you keep it brief to give kids a chance to read and write and not just listen.

A lesson for teaching theme to middle schoolers should include?

a definition of theme
tips on finding theme
a list of common themes found in books (I have a free resource for that…click here to get yours)
a few samples to practice (can be a mentor text, a short film, or a song)

Grab this free resource to help kids with theme statements.

If you need a resource, I have a few:

Grab this easy to follow mini lesson on theme.

If you are looking for a complete lesson on theme, try this video lesson. It’s free on YouTube, and I have the presentation and guided notes available in my TPT store.

Grab this video lesson and sit back while I teach your class!

Teaching Theme to Middle Schoolers: Practice with Songs

When teaching theme to middle schoolers, try music. Because really, who doesn’t like music? I find this to be a very, very powerful and simple way to practice theme throughout the year. I like to use songs that kids are into at the moment, but I also like using movie theme songs,, tv show theme songs, and seasonal songs to do this as well. Here are just a few songs that have strong themes that kids can relate to:

“Hall of Fame” – the Script
“The Middle” – Jimmy Eat World
“Roar” – Katy Perry
“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” – from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
“We’re All in This Together” – from High School Musical

I also will take a quick survey of kids’ favorite songs and see which are appropriate to use.

Incorporate Theme into Writing

At some point, kids will likely write a narrative in your class. Getting them to transfer what they learned in reading and use it successfully in their writing is simple, right? (LOL, LOL, LOL!)

I teach personal narrative, and I use my mini-lesson on symbolism and theme after we are well into the revising portion of the writing workshop. The first step is to get kids to look at any objects in their writing. What might they symbolize?

Step 1: Find an Object

As an example, a student of mine was writing about his grandparents. There was a sweet anecdote within the narrative about sitting on the swing with them. As an English major, that swing SCREAMED symbolism!

Step 2: Analyze the Object for Symbolism

After your kids have found their object, you will most likely need to conference to talk it through. I asked the above student about how he felt about being with his grandparents now. He said he still loved being with them, but he was so busy that it just isn’t the same.

My eyes bugged out of my head, because it was so clear to me…his relationship was changing, “swinging” back and forth between his childhood memories and what his new reality was, and it made him incredibly emotional. It’s that sweet, severe, heart-aching emotion that you feel when you realize you are growing up and changing.

Step 3: Analyze How the Symbolism Reveals Theme

Next, it is important to show, not tell, how the symbol reveals the theme in the story. As a 6th grade teacher, I gave some sentence starters to get them on the right track in their personal narrative unit:

“Looking back, I can now see…”
“I realize now…”
“When I think of that object, I think…

Here’s an example of the swing symbol: “Looking back, I can now see that little boy who wanted nothing more than to sit and swing with his grandparents. Time was not an issue back then. As I swing into my teenage years, I realize how important and sweet those memories are.”

Step 5: Brainstorm Possible Themes

So what are possible themes of this swing symbol?

Make time for the ones you love.
The bond between a child and his/her grandparents is one of the strongest there is.
Enjoy each moment, because you never know how long they will last.

I hope this helps. There are no magical formulas here. You really have to get into the story with your kids during the conferencing portion of the workshop. For me, though, this is one of my favorite conferences. The swing symbol still brings me to tears when I think of it.

Theme Centers: PERFECT for Teaching Theme to Middle Schoolers

Really what we just talked about are ideas for centers. If you would like some ready-made center activities for teaching theme, check them out here!

5 ready-made activities

Teach Theme in Middle School All Year Long

Lastly, teaching theme is not going to be done in one mini-lesson. It will require practice and attention all year long. Here are some ways that you can do this naturally and quickly throughout the year:

As shown above, use music that is timely and come up with themes.
If you do a movie day, you should absolutely brainstorm themes.
If there’s a new blockbuster movie that’s out that a bunch of your kids have seen, brainstorm some themes.
Come up with a theme for that particular class. Example: My period 3 language arts class came up with the theme of “Never miss an opportunity to check in with a friend.” It was supposed to be humorous and this class practically literally NEVER stopped talking. 🙂
After a break, ask kids for a theme about their break.
Ask kids to think of a time that someone disappointed them. Come up with a theme for that.
Come up with a theme for the lunchroom.
Always incorporate them in any reading or writing unit in some way shape or form. Whether it’s identifying a theme or coming up with their own, this is a crucial step.

I could go on and on. The point is to do this all year. Your kids will become experts, and this once intangible topic of theme will now become second nature.