English Language Arts and Reading.3.8.A

The student is expected to

infer the theme of a work, distinguishing theme from topic;

multiple genres TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--literary elements. The student recognizes and analyzes literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse literary texts.

The topic of a literary work is the subject discussed within the story. The theme is the message about that topic that is conveyed by the story. Students should understand that while a topic may be explicitly addressed in the text, the theme will require the student to make inferences about the message the author expects the reader to take from the text. For example, while the topic of a short story might be teamwork on field day, the theme could be about how people should encourage each other to do their best.
Themes are universal ideas presented in a text that speak to a common human experience. Themes often focus on abstract concepts and the author’s thoughts about them. Examples of themes presented in a text might include “love can make you brave” or “friendships make difficult times easier to get through.” Students should be able to determine the implied theme that is represented by a character, group of characters, and/or event in a literary work.

Research

Nokes, J. D. (2008). The observation/inference chart: improving student's abilities to make inferences while reading nontraditional texts: paintings, movies, historical artifacts, and other nontraditional texts are easier to understand when students are skilled in making inferences. These skills transfer to traditional texts as well. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(7), 538+. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A178358714/PROF?u=tea&sid=PROF&xid=842641e2

Summary: The author demonstrates how an observation/inference chart can help inexperience readers make good inferences. The author explains how to observe and make inferences from those observations, provides examples of modeling making inferences, and gives examples to support both guided practice for students and students' individual practice. Although the study was conducted on secondary students, the process can be adapted to primary classrooms.