Grade 8

Arizona ELA Standard: 8.RL.2

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

Main Idea and Details

Young students can use this big idea organizer to identify the main idea and support it with details.

Comparing Characters

Your young students will compare how two characters have changed in a story.

Identifying A Story’s Theme

Teach your young students to identify the moral or the theme of a story.

A Character’s Playlist

What playlist of songs best goes with a character’s change over time?

Introducing Universal Theme of Conflict

So what could you do with a Universal Theme of Conflict? Well, here’s an introduction that will get your students’ brains sweating.

Charge of the Light Brigade – Chess Variant

What if one side played with THREE QUEENS and the other had SEVEN KNIGHTS!? What if?

Analyze Characters Using Philosophy

What is the Brick Pig’s philosophy? How would he apply it to the characters in Harry Potter?

Paradox: Rebuilding A Ship

What if we completely rebuild something slowly? What if we completely rebuild it all at once? Is it still the same thing?

Writing Sample: A Christmas Carol (Cold)

A passage from White Fang to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Paradox: The Barber’s Paradox

The barber shaves everybody who doesn’t themselves. So… does the barber shave himself?

Content Imperatives: Convergence

Add complexity by considering how multiple factors 🔄 Converge within one topic.

Depth and Complexity: ⚖️ Ethics

Want to add drama to any topic? Use the Ethics prompt!

Depth and Complexity: 🏛️ Big Idea

Let’s get students thinking big and focusing on more abstract ideas.

Depth and Complexity: 🌻 Details

Get kids focusing on the small, but essential, details of a topic.

Literary Technique: Juxtaposition

Put a grumpy character next to a joyful one and they make each other stand out even more. Opposites are powerful!

Romeo and Juliet Summary

Romeo and Juliet in just about five minutes.

“Much Ado About Nothing” Summary

Shakespeare’s Much Ado summarized in just five minutes!

Twelfth Night Summary

An animated summary of Shakespeare’s utterly ridiculous “Twelfth Night.”

Hamlet Summary

It’s Hamlet in just about five minutes!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Nothing could possibly go wrong with a love potion on the loose!

Writing Summaries in Haiku

Let’s write a summary. A very short summary. With VERY strict rules.

Better Stories Part 3: Literary Themes

A typical student narrative includes plot and characters but lacks a larger idea to hold it all together. This is where a lesson on themes comes in…