Theme Task Cards for Secondary Students

Theme task cards are great practice BEFORE, DURING, or AFTER a lesson on theme!

Based on Common Core. RI.6.2, 7.2, 8.2, and 9-10.2, these task cards present students with a reading selection and 3 multiple choice options. Students select the correct theme! Students can then pair and discuss- or continue until all 20 are completed.

Included are:
SET of 20 original Task Cards
Answer Sheets
Answer Keys
Optional Activity

Students read a selection on each card and decide which is the best theme.

These cards are an easy way to check student understanding of theme, but can be used in many more ways: Entrance Tickets, Exit Tickets, Differentiation, Comprehension Check, Homework…

They might also be used as a springboard for discussion on how the author accomplishes his/ her theme.

Theme Task Cards are included in:
Kroll Task Card Bundle

One of my favorite ways to use is as follows:
Make copies of each slide, but do not cut apart. Each student will answer all four items on one page (on the answer sheet provided). The next day, as students enter the room, they will receive the next page. Continue until all answers are completed. On the fifth day, students pair up and check answers. Give students time to re-read any that are different from their partners. Turn in for a grade.

Have students write on task cards – or laminate and use the task cards year after year.

Focus:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.2 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.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.