Some wonderful book to teach Themes

Teaching Theme is one of my favorite lessons for Third and Fourth graders. However, it is not necessarily an easy one to teach. Deciphering the theme or message behind a story requires a higher level of thinking and reasoning. It involves a lot of modeling and exposure to great quality children's books. It also requires a lot of conversation, negotiation, and paying attention to details and clues.

Here is a list of some of the books I have used for teaching Themes to Intermediate Grades;

Help! A Story of Friendship by Holly Keller

Walk On1 A Guide for Babies of All Ages by Marla Frazee

Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

Ish by Peter Reynolds

The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell

Eight Days by Edwidge Danticat

Can I Play Too? by Mo Willems

The Little Engine That Could

The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles

In my last visit to the Columbus Library, the front cover of a picture book caught my attention...

 How did I miss this book? This book was published in 2008, and I have just now discovered.  Boy, I am so glad I did. The simple text and the basic colors in this book stands out in those simple white pages. The story is absolutely fantastic. Blue is a quiet color and Red is a hot one that picks on Blue. Even though the other colors don't agree with what Red is doing, no one has the strength to stand up against Red until.... One comes along and shows everyone how to stand up for themselves. 

This book, winner of 10 awards including Teacher's Choice Awards, looks at the subject on Bullying in the most creative and unique way. 

So...what are some of the books that you have used for Teaching Themes? Please DO share! Picture Books should be driving our instruction when teaching such big concepts (instead of OAA passages that we see so much in the classrooms!)

Enjoy the journey! Enjoy your weekend!