Scott Foresman Reading Street

SKILLS

STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT

Plot and Theme Visualize

Test

Selection Test:
Unit 6

Reteach/
Review

TE: 3.4 137b, DI•56, 3.6 315, 379b, DI•55

PB: 3.2 43, 47, 48, 116, 133, 137, 138

Practice

TE: 3.4 112–113, 3.6 354–355

Introduce/
Teach

Plot and Theme

	Identify a story's plot and theme.
	Visualize plot events to improve comprehension.

INTRODUCE

Read the following short story aloud to students: There was a thunderstorm last night. Our electricity went out. I thought I saw a monster in the corner. Then the electricity came back on. I saw that what I thought was a monster was only a pile of dirty clothes! Ask students to identify the "big idea" of the story. (Possible response: Your eyes can play tricks on you at night.) Then ask students to describe the beginning, middle, and end of the story.

Have students read the information on
p. 354. Explain the following:

Identifying the plot is like summarizing the story.
Remember that a story's plot tells the beginning, middle, and end. A theme is the "big idea" of the story. It can be told in only a phrase or sentence.
When you visualize the important events, or the plot, you can better understand what is happening in the story.

Use Skill Transparency 29 to teach plot and theme and visualize.

TEACH

STRATEGY Model how to

visualize the events of a story.

MODEL Annie Ant tells
the beetle she "can lift this rock that is twice my size." That helps me see a picture of Annie in my head. She is sitting on a rock. The rock is as big as two ants.

SKILL Discuss identifying a

story's theme.

MODEL Visualizing helped me understand the story's beginning, middle, and end. It helped me identify the important events. I ask myself, "What was the author trying to tell me?" I know that the answer is not right there in the text. I will have to put the theme into my own words. I also know the story is a fable. Fables usually teach a lesson. The lesson is the theme.

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

STRATEGY Possible response:

I see Annie Ant struggling to lift a rock. She is angry at the beetle for insulting her. She is looking at him as if to say, "I told you so!"

SKILL Do not let your pride make

you foolish.

WRITE Have students complete

steps 1 and 2 of the Write to Read activity. You might consider using this as a whole class activity.

then… use Practice
Book 3.2 p. 133 to provide additional practice.

If… students
are unable
to complete
Write to Read
on p. 354,

Plot and Theme

Available as Skill Transparency 29

The theme can be stated in a
single sentence.

The “big idea” of the story is called
the theme.

The plot has a beginning, a middle,
and an end.

The important events in a story make
up the plot.

Plot and Theme

Adapted from Aesop’s “The Fox and the Crow”

Strategy
Visualize

Skill
Plot and Theme

     Annie Ant was famished. She stole a
piece of cheese from an abandoned picnic and
scrambled up to sit on a rock. She was about to
eat the cheese when she noticed a beetle nearby.
     The beetle had been spying on her, and having
grown tired of his dull menu of leaves, he wanted
the cheese for himself. He made a plan.
     “My, my, I have never seen such a beautiful
ant. From the tip of your antennae to the end
of your abdomen, you are simply gorgeous!”
flattered the beetle.
     Annie thought, “Finally, someone who
appreciates my true beauty.”
     “It is a shame,” said the beetle. “Such a beauty
must be delicate. Surely, you are not strong
enough to help the other ants.”
     Now Annie Ant was insulted. How dare he
suggest she was weak. “Hmph! I can lift this rock
that is twice my size,” she said.
     Annie Ant set down the cheese and lifted the
rock over her head.
     The beetle grabbed the cheese and began to
scurry away. “Yes, you are very strong, but you
are also very foolish.”

Strategy Here is
a good place to
visualize. What
picture do you have
in your mind of
Annie Ant?

End

Middle

Beginning

Good readers use their imaginations to
picture what is happening at the beginning,
the middle, and the end of a story. As
you read, pretend you are watching a
movie of the story inside your head!
This will help you keep track of the plot.

Strategy: Visualize

Skill In a fable,
the theme is usually
a lesson to be
learned. It is called
the moral. What
lesson did the ant
learn at the end of
this story?

2. Write the theme—or moral—
of the story, using just one
sentence.

1. Read “The Ant and the
    Beetle.” Make a graphic
    organizer like the one above
    to show the plot of the story.



	Close
	Access Content Beginning/Intermediate For a Picture It! lesson on plot and theme, see the ELL Teaching Guide, pp. 197–198. Advanced Before students read “The Ant and the Beetle,” review with them the characteristics of a fable. Remind them that in a fable, the author gives human characteristics to animals in order to teach a moral or lesson. The lesson is sometimes stated at the end of the story. Plot and Theme Remind students that a story’s theme can be told in one sentence. It is the point that the author is trying to make. A story’s plot is its most important events. It tells the action at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Provide students with short stories. Work with them to identify the plot sequence and the theme. Practice Book 3.2 p. 133 with \| without Answers