Who doesn't love Elephant and Piggie books? They are perfect for our young readers. They teach intonation. They are funny. And you can use them to teach theme. Yes, theme (or central message).
If you're like me, you were a little clueless when it came to teaching theme/central message. The Common Core State Standards includes this as a standard beginning in first grade. If you look throughout the grade levels, 1st-3rd grades refer to it as central message, while 4th grade and above, refers to it as theme. Call it what you like. It's the message an author is trying to convey.
So how do we simplify this sophisticated concept for our 1st graders? I've figured it out for all of us! Just read an Elephant and Piggie book and you'll see there's a message.
I've been working on theme in my classroom for years and loving every minute of it. It requires our students to think deeper about the message the author is giving. It gives the kids the opportunity to use evidence from the text to support their answers. And it allows our beginning readers to demonstrate an understanding of the big idea of a text.
I created a unit that includes the resources you'll need to teach theme to your little ones (minus the books).
You probably have the Elephant and Piggie books in your library, but if you don't you can find so many videos on YouTube. Here's one of my favorite channels for Elephant and Piggie books.
Did you watch it? Can you guess the theme?
If you guessed perseverance, you'd be correct. You could make an argument for other themes, but providing evidence will encourage your students to support their answers.
We all love Elephant and Piggie books, and if you haven't read one yet, DO IT! You won't regret it. With all that they have to offer, why not dig a little deeper?
Thanks for stopping by! If you're interested in this resource you can find it here :)
I began by showing the students a You-Tube video with fall pictures.
We had a discussion about the colors they saw on the fall trees. The colors they mentioned, are the paint colors we used. I then proceeded to play the music throughout the project while they continued to speak in outside voices.
Once we had chosen the fall colors, I modeled how to use one q-tip for each color and how to make dots with on the tree.
I handed out the trees, paint, and q-tips and the rest is history. It was that easy!
