Main Idea and Theme
The restaurant was formal, so I bought a new suit. What does "formal" mean?
upscale, dressy
What does a reader use along with their background knowledge to infer information about a text?
clues from the text
What senses can an author use to describe setting?
sight, touch, smell, feel, and sometimes taste
If your mom walked in carrying groceries and happened to have water spots all over her clothes, what could you infer?
It is raining.
The first snowflake drifted down from the leaden sky, an icy harbinger of the blizzard to come. The air was thick with anticipation, and the silence was broken only by the occasional creak of the old house settling.
What is the setting? (Make sure to include weather.)
an old house in the snow
We read a short fable about a dog losing his food when he saw his reflection. What is the theme of this story?
Being greedy can cause you to lose what you already have.
If a dog is panting, what can you infer?
He is hot.
How is Max feeling?
Crack! Thunder struck and rain poured. Max stared blankly out the window, trying to contain his emotions that raged like the weather. He was beginning to lose it. Dropping the kite from his hand, Max broke out into full sobs. His mother comforted him, “There, there, Max. We’ll just find something else to do.” She began to unpack the picnic basket that was on the counter and offered him a sandwich. Max snapped, “I don’t wanna sand-mich!” A flash from the sky lit up the living room. Boom! Mom sighed.
Upset and disappointed
We read a story about a mouse that helped a lion out of a net when he was trapped. What is a theme for this story?
The moral of the story is that mercy brings its reward and that there is no being so small that it cannot help a greater.
If your sister goes back for more mashed potatoes after dinner, what can you infer?
She likes mashed potatoes.
The first snowflake drifted down from the leaden sky, an icy harbinger of the blizzard to come. The air was thick with anticipation, and the silence was broken only by the occasional creak of the old house settling.
How does the description of this setting impact the story? (Think about the feel of it.)
It makes the story feel eerie, like something bad might happen.
What is the difference between the main idea of a story and the theme of a story?
The main idea is mostly what the story is about (a short summary). The theme is the life lesson or moral that the author wants us to remember. It may have nothing to do with the details of the story itself.
Every day after work Paul took his muddy boots off on the steps of the front porch. Alice would have a fit if the boots made it so far as the welcome mat. He then took off his dusty overalls and threw them into a plastic garbage bag; Alice left a new garbage bag tied to the porch railing for him every morning. On his way in the house, he dropped the garbage bag off at the washing machine and went straight up the stairs to the shower as he was instructed. He would eat dinner with her after he was “presentable,” as Alice had often said.
What type of job does Paul do?
construction, gardening, farming, etc. Something outside.
I lifted my face, letting the light and shadow dance across my skin. Bees hummed in and out of the pennyroyal. I inhaled its minty smell and continued on, delighting in the sound of my feet sliding through the leaves.
Where is this person?
the forest