Analyzing Literary Texts

Objective

I can cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
I can determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text.

Standards:

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.1
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.2

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Success Criteria

• I can find and highlight direct quotes from the text to support my answers.
• I can explain how details in the text contribute to the theme.
• I can discuss the author’s message clearly using correct evidence.

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Materials

• Printed short story or excerpt (choose a dyslexia-friendly font such as OpenDyslexic or Arial, with increased spacing)
• Highlighters (different colors)
• Whiteboard and markers
• Worksheet with guided questions aligned to RL.8.1 and RL.8.2

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Lesson Breakdown (5 minutes)

1. Quick Introduction (1 minute)

• Briefly explain the goals for today’s lesson: citing evidence and identifying theme.
• Show an example of textual evidence on the whiteboard (e.g., highlight a sentence and explain how it supports an idea).

2. Guided Group Activity (2 minutes)

• Read aloud a brief passage (150-200 words) with dyslexia-friendly formatting.
• Ask the whole class to highlight or underline key phrases that reveal something important about the story.
• Discuss aloud: What does this phrase tell us? Is it explicit? Can we infer something deeper?

3. Theme Identification (1 minute)

• Pose the question: “What do you think the author wants to teach us through this story?”
• Use quick think-pair-share strategy to allow students (partner with someone next to them) to discuss their ideas.

4. Wrap-up and Exit Ticket (1 minute)

• On the worksheet, students write one sentence citing evidence and one sentence stating the theme.
• Collect the worksheets to assess understanding immediately.

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Differentiation Strategies

Group	Strategy
English Language Learners (ELLs)	Provide sentence frames for citing evidence and theme statements, e.g., “The text says... which shows...”
Students with Dyslexia	Use dyslexia-friendly text formats; allow oral responses or use text-to-speech tools.
Struggling Readers	Highlight key sentences before reading; reread aloud; provide guided questions with bullet-point hints.
Advanced Learners	Challenge with identifying multiple themes or ask them to analyze how the theme develops over multiple paragraphs.

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Extension Activity (Post-Lesson)

Ask advanced students to write a brief paragraph comparing the theme of this story with another story they have read recently. They should cite textual evidence from both.

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Teacher Tips to Impress

• Use color-coded highlighters (e.g., yellow for explicit evidence, blue for inferred evidence).
• Invite students to quickly draw a symbol or emoji representing the theme before writing it down to engage creativity.
• Record students’ think-pair-share answers on the board in real-time to validate contributions.
• Offer electronic versions of text that can be adjusted with font size or background color for accessibility.

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This micro-lesson empowers all learners to engage critically with literature while meeting rigorous Common Core standards in a meaningful, time-effective way.