4. Themes

Lesson 4
Themes of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas


{Teacher refreshes students on the definition of a theme.}


A theme: is an central idea or message that a text conveys to a reader. Themes can be about society or life, both as it relates to the story of the text or the ideas can be timeless and true in many situations.

Activity: As a class, students brainstorm what they think could be some of the themes of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. The teacher writes these ideas on the board on a mind map which is scanned and posted onto this blog. Then each student has a turn in commenting on what they think the novel is saying about each of these themes and how the novel presents these themes. (20 mins)



Activity: Teacher shows the above video, stopping after each new image is shown with the description, and asking students what they have seen. eg. fences, running, etc. Students list what they see and then connect these images and words to possible themes to build on their knowledge. The video is shown twice. (20 mins)

Activity: Students write a list of their choice of the five most important themes, what the author is trying to say about the themes, and the things from the novel that show that these are important. Eg. repeated use of the fence, friendship between different boys etc. Students are to consider how the John Mayer song is used in this video, and what it means that 70 years after the war, a song like this is still relevant to the war and to life today. Students are to post their answers on this blog. (20 mins)