RL.6.2: Theme, the Details That Convey It, and a Summary Without Opinions
In plain English: RL.6.2 is the Common Core grade 6 ELA standard that asks students to determine a theme or central idea of a story, poem or play and explain how particular details convey it. Students also write a summary that retells the main events in order, in their own words, without personal opinions or judgments.
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.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy · Domain: Reading Standards for Literature · Cluster: Key Ideas and Details · Official standard
Students learn three linked skills: determining a theme of a story (a message about life, stated as a complete sentence), explaining how particular details convey that theme, and writing a summary that retells the main events without personal opinions or judgments. The anchor text is "The Old Man and His Grandson," a folk tale of about 250 words collected by the Brothers Grimm, in which a small boy's wooden trough shows his parents how they have been treating his grandfather.
Students then fix a practice summary full of opinions, and work on their own with a second Grimm tale, "The Nail," which ends with a stated moral, so they can see how a moral and a theme differ. The homework uses an Aesop fable with no stated moral, "The Farmer and His Sons," where students must work out the theme from the details alone.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Tell a topic apart from a theme, and state a theme as a complete sentence
Identify particular details that convey a theme and explain how each one does
Tell a stated moral apart from a theme the reader works out from details
Write a short summary of the main events, in order and in their own words, with no personal opinions or judgments
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Determining a theme of a story from its details and summarizing the text RL.5.2
Citing textual evidence for what a text says and suggests RL.6.1
"Think of a story you know well: a book, a movie or a fairy tale. Finish three sentences: 'In this story, ___ happens.' 'This story shows that ___.' 'I think this story is ___.'"
Take four or five answers and write them on the board in three columns. Label the columns once they are full: What happens (the start of a summary), What it shows about life (a theme) and What I think of it (an opinion). Tell students that today they will learn to find the second kind of sentence in a story and to write the first kind without mixing in the third.
Direct Instruction15 minutes
Teach five words before reading, and leave them on the board:
Topic: what a story is about, in a word or phrase ("family," "a trip home").
Theme: a message about life that a story shows, written as a complete sentence. A story usually shows its theme through details instead of stating it. For a story, "theme" and "central idea" mean nearly the same thing: the big idea the whole text is built around.
Moral: a lesson stated directly, often in the last line of a fable or folk tale.
Details: the particular events, actions, words and descriptions in a story. Details are the evidence for a theme.
Summary: a short retelling of the main events, in order and in your own words, with no personal opinions (what you like or feel) and no judgments (calling characters good, bad, smart or foolish).
Introduce the text: "The Old Man and His Grandson" is a very short folk tale collected by the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in Germany and translated into English by Margaret Hunt in 1884. Words to know: broth (thin soup), earthenware (made of baked clay), half-pence (small British coins worth very little) and trough (a long, open box that animals eat or drink from). Read it aloud twice.
1There was once a very old man, whose eyes had become dim, his ears dull of hearing, his knees trembled, and when he sat at table he could hardly hold the spoon, and spilt the broth upon the table-cloth or let it run out of his mouth. His son and his son’s wife were disgusted at this, so the old grandfather at last had to sit in the corner behind the stove, and they gave him his food in an earthenware bowl, and not even enough of it. And he used to look towards the table with his eyes full of tears. Once, too, his trembling hands could not hold the bowl, and it fell to the ground and broke. The young wife scolded him, but he said nothing and only sighed. Then they bought him a wooden bowl for a few half-pence, out of which he had to eat.
2They were once sitting thus when the little grandson of four years old began to gather together some bits of wood upon the ground. “What are you doing there?” asked the father. “I am making a little trough,” answered the child, “for father and mother to eat out of when I am big.”
3The man and his wife looked at each other for a while, and presently began to cry. Then they took the old grandfather to the table, and henceforth always let him eat with them, and likewise said nothing if he did spill a little of anything.
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, translated by Margaret Hunt, The Old Man and His Grandson (1884). Public domain (published 1884). Source text.
Topic or theme?
A student says the theme of "The Old Man and His Grandson" is "family." Is that a theme?
Result: No. "Family" is a topic: a word or phrase that names what the story is about. A theme is a complete sentence that says what the story shows about life, for example: "The way we treat older people teaches our children how to treat us." The tale never states this sentence; readers work it out from the details.
Details that convey the theme
Which details in paragraph 1 show how the son and his wife treat the grandfather?
Result: He "had to sit in the corner behind the stove," away from the family table, and they buy him "a wooden bowl for a few half-pence" (paragraph 1). Each detail shows him pushed aside and treated as if he were worth very little.
The key detail
Why is the trough in paragraph 2 such an important detail for the theme?
Result: The little boy says the trough is "for father and mother to eat out of when I am big" (paragraph 2). A trough is a long, open box that animals eat from. The boy's words show the parents their own future, so this one detail turns the story from what happens to the grandfather into a message about what the parents are teaching.
Summary or judgment?
Which sentence belongs in a summary of the tale: "The grandfather has to eat alone in the corner" or "The son and his wife are heartless people"?
Result: The first. It reports an event that the text states (paragraph 1). The second is a judgment: it tells what the writer thinks of the characters. A summary retells the main events in order, in your own words, and leaves the judging to the reader.
From details to theme. Model the thinking with Diagram 1: list the details that stand out, ask what they have in common, then write one sentence that says what the story shows about life. Test the sentence: it should be true of the whole story, not only one part, and it should not name a character (so it could fit another story too).
Guided Practice15 minutes
Pairs read a practice summary of the tale written by an imaginary student. It contains deliberate problems. Pairs underline every opinion or judgment in one color, then check the summary against the tale and note any main event that is missing.
1This is a sad story by the Brothers Grimm, and I think it is one of the best ones. An old man lives with his son and his son's wife. He is so old that he spills his soup, so the couple, who are really mean, make him eat by himself in the corner. The grandfather cries a lot, which is kind of annoying.
2One day their little boy starts making something out of wood. He says it is a trough for his parents to eat out of when he grows up. The parents totally deserved that! Everyone should read this story.
Written for this page (an invented student summary), Practice Summary of "The Old Man and His Grandson" (contains deliberate problems for Guided Practice). Original passage written for this page.
Find the opinions and judgments. Teacher key: "This is a sad story," "I think it is one of the best ones," "who are really mean," "which is kind of annoying," "The parents totally deserved that!" and "Everyone should read this story." Each one tells what the writer feels or thinks, not what happens.
Find what is missing. Teacher key: the summary stops before the ending, when the parents cry and bring the grandfather back to the table, and it leaves out the wooden bowl. Without the ending, a reader cannot tell what the story shows.
Rewrite it together. Model: "An old man who spills his food lives with his son and his son's wife, who make him eat alone in the corner from a wooden bowl. One day their four-year-old son starts making a little wooden trough and says it is for his parents to eat from when he grows up. The parents cry, bring the grandfather back to the table, and never again complain when he spills."
Then show Diagram 2 (What Goes in a Summary) and have pairs check the rewrite against it: main events in order, own words, no opinions, no judgments.
Independent Practice15 minutes
Students read another Grimm tale on their own, "The Nail," from the same 1884 translation. Words to know: wares (things for sale), wanting (an older meaning: missing), alighted (got down from his horse) and hasten (hurry).
1A merchant had done good business at the fair; he had sold his wares, and lined his money-bags with gold and silver. Then he wanted to travel homewards, and be in his own house before nightfall. So he packed his trunk with the money on his horse, and rode away.
2At noon he rested in a town, and when he wanted to go farther the stable-boy brought out his horse and said, “A nail is wanting, sir, in the shoe of its left hind foot.” “Let it be wanting,” answered the merchant; “the shoe will certainly stay on for the six miles I have still to go. I am in a hurry.”
3In the afternoon, when he once more alighted and had his horse fed, the stable-boy went into the room to him and said, “Sir, a shoe is missing from your horse’s left hind foot. Shall I take him to the blacksmith?” “Let it still be wanting,” answered the man; “the horse can very well hold out for the couple of miles which remain. I am in haste.”
4He rode forth, but before long the horse began to limp. It had not limped long before it began to stumble, and it had not stumbled long before it fell down and broke its leg. The merchant was forced to leave the horse where it was, and unbuckle the trunk, take it on his back, and go home on foot. And there he did not arrive until quite late at night. “And that unlucky nail,” said he to himself, “has caused all this disaster.”
5Hasten slowly.
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, translated by Margaret Hunt, The Nail (1884). Public domain (published 1884). Source text.
On the handout, students (1) explain what the last line, a stated moral, means in their own words; (2) write a theme statement as a complete sentence; (3) list three details from different paragraphs that convey the theme, with a sentence for each on how it does; (4) write a summary of three or four sentences with no opinions or judgments. The quiz uses this tale and "The Old Man and His Grandson."
Closure5-10 minutes
Exit ticket: (1) In one sentence, explain the difference between a topic and a theme. (2) Write one sentence of opinion about "The Nail," then explain why it would not belong in a summary.
Teacher note on language: both Grimm tales come from an English translation published in 1884, and the fable from one published in 1912, so some words are old-fashioned, such as "wanting" for missing, "half-pence" and "of much moment" (very important). The words are kept exactly as printed; the glossaries in this lesson give their meanings.
For homework: students read the fable below, which the homework uses. Words to know: at death's door (very close to dying), impart (tell or pass on), of much moment (very important) and vineyard (a field where grapevines grow).
1A Farmer, being at death's door, and desiring to impart to his Sons a secret of much moment, called them round him and said, "My sons, I am shortly about to die; I would have you know, therefore, that in my vineyard there lies a hidden treasure. Dig, and you will find it." As soon as their father was dead, the Sons took spade and fork and turned up the soil of the vineyard over and over again, in their search for the treasure which they supposed to lie buried there. They found none, however: but the vines, after so thorough a digging, produced a crop such as had never before been seen.
Aesop, translated by V. S. Vernon Jones, The Farmer and His Sons (1912). Public domain (published 1912). Source text.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give a theme frame: "This story shows that when people ___, ___." and a summary frame: "First ___. Then ___. In the end ___."
Before students write a theme, have them list three details on sticky notes and group them, so the theme grows out of the details
Give them a list of opinion words to watch for in a summary: I think, best, worst, mean, nice, should, deserved
For Advanced Students
Ask them to write two different theme statements for "The Nail" and decide, with details, which one the whole story supports better
Have them compare the stated moral of "The Nail" with the unstated theme of "The Old Man and His Grandson": which is easier to argue about, and why?
Ask them to cut their summary of "The Nail" to exactly 25 words without losing a main event
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Check that theme statements are complete sentences about life, not one-word topics ("greed") or plot events ("the merchant rides home"), and that they fit the whole story. Look for details that are named precisely, quoted or closely paraphrased with a paragraph number, and followed by a sentence explaining how they convey the theme. In summaries, look for the main events in order, in the student's own words, and no opinion or judgment words. Watch for summaries that retell every small detail, and for summaries that end with "I think."
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Topic, Theme, Event or Opinion?
10 minPairs
Pairs sort eight cards about "The Old Man and His Grandson" into four piles. The goal is for students to see the difference between a word that names a subject, a sentence about life, an event from the plot and a personal judgment.
The Eight Cards
Old age
Children copy the way they see adults treat people.
The grandfather is given a wooden bowl.
The parents in this story are mean.
Kindness
Treat others the way you would want to be treated when you are old.
A four-year-old says he is making a trough.
This is the saddest story I have ever read.
Procedure
Pairs sort the cards into Topic, Theme, Event and Opinion, and write one reason on each card
For each Theme card, pairs find one detail in the tale that supports it and write its paragraph number
Answer key for the teacher: Topic, cards 1 and 5; Theme, cards 2 and 6; Event, cards 3 (paragraph 1) and 7 (paragraph 2); Opinion, cards 4 and 8
Discussion Questions
How could you turn the topic "Kindness" into a theme for this tale?
Card 4 uses the word "mean." Is there a way to say the same thing in a summary without judging?
Both theme cards fit the tale. Can a story have more than one theme?
Modification
For students who need support, start with only two piles, "one word or phrase" and "complete sentence," then split the sentences into theme, event and opinion.
2
Theme Detectives
15 minGroups of 3-4
Each group gets three short story cards, written for this activity. Groups decide a theme for each story and underline the one detail that conveys it most clearly. The goal is to practice moving from details to a theme on stories short enough to reread quickly.
The Three Story Cards
Card A: Maya practices free throws every day after school for a month. In the league final she misses her first two shots. She takes a breath, shoots again, and makes the last basket of the game.
Card B: Theo finds a wallet on the bus with forty dollars inside. He thinks about the new game he could buy, then turns the wallet in at the front of the bus. The next day the owner, an elderly neighbor, knocks on his door to thank him.
Card C: Two brothers argue all summer about whose turn it is to walk the dog. One evening the dog slips out of the yard. The brothers search the neighborhood together until dark and find him hiding under a porch.
Procedure
For each card, the group writes the topic in a word or phrase, then a theme as a complete sentence
The group underlines the one detail that best conveys the theme and writes one sentence explaining why
Groups post their theme for Card C; the class compares the statements and checks each one against the details
Possible themes for the teacher: A, steady practice and staying calm under pressure pay off; B, doing the honest thing matters more than what you could gain; C, a shared problem can bring people who argue back together
Discussion Questions
Which card could support two different themes? Which details support each one?
Did any group write a topic instead of a theme? How did you fix it?
On Card B, which detail would you leave out of a summary, and why?
3
Somebody Wanted But So Then
15 minIndividual, then pairs
Students use a five-part frame to write a short summary of a story they know well, then check a partner's summary for opinions. The frame keeps a summary to the main events and makes opinions easy to spot.
The Frame
Somebody (the main character) wanted (a goal) but (a problem) so (what the character did) then (how it ended).
Procedure
Students choose a story the class has read or a familiar fairy tale and fill in the five parts, one short line each
They join the parts into two or three sentences
Partners swap and circle any opinion or judgment word; the writer replaces it with an event
Model for the teacher, using "Cinderella": "Cinderella wanted to go to the prince's ball, but her stepmother would not let her go. Her fairy godmother gave her a gown and a coach, so she went, but she had to leave at midnight and lost a glass slipper. Then the prince searched the kingdom, found that the slipper fit her, and married her."
Variation
For a challenge, students write the summary first with the frame, then cut it to 25 words or fewer and check that every main event is still there.
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
2 diagrams
Diagram 1: Details Build a Theme
Four details from "The Old Man and His Grandson," one or two from each paragraph, point to one theme. The tale never states the theme; the reader works it out from what the details have in common.
Diagram 2: What Goes in a Summary
A summary keeps the main events and the ending, in order and in the writer's own words. Opinions and judgments stay out. Green marks what to include and red what to leave out.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
RL.6.2 Homework: Theme and Summary in an Aesop Fable
Directions: Read the fable "The Farmer and His Sons" at the end of the lesson plan (in Closure). It is one paragraph long and has no moral stated at the end, so you must work out the theme yourself. Answer in complete sentences, and put any words you copy from the fable in quotation marks.
Part 1: Topic and Theme (Problems 1-2)
Name the topic of the fable in a word or short phrase. Then write a theme as a complete sentence.
Two students try to state the theme. Student A writes "Farming." Student B writes "The sons dig up the whole vineyard." Neither one wrote a theme. Explain what each student wrote instead, and why it is not a theme.
Part 2: Details That Convey the Theme (Problems 3-4)
Quote two details from the fable that convey the theme you wrote in Problem 1. After each quotation, write one sentence explaining how it helps show the theme.
The father tells his sons there is "a hidden treasure" in the vineyard instead of simply telling them to work hard. How does this choice help the fable convey its theme? Use the text in your answer.
Part 3: Summary (Problems 5-6)
Write a summary of the fable in two or three sentences. Include the main events in order, use your own words, and leave out opinions and judgments.
Read this student summary: "A wise farmer tricks his lazy sons by telling them there is treasure in the vineyard. The sons dig all over but find nothing, which serves them right. Then the vines grow a huge crop." Find every opinion or judgment, explain why each does not belong, and rewrite the summary.
Rubric
Criterion
Full Credit (2 pts)
Partial Credit (1 pt)
No Credit (0 pts)
Theme
A complete sentence about life that fits the whole fable
A theme that fits only part of the fable, or a topic with an explanation
A single word, a plot event, or no answer
Details
Two exact details, each explained as support for the theme
Details named but not explained, or only one detail
No details, or details that do not fit
Summary
Main events in order, in own words, with no opinions or judgments
Main events present but with one opinion or a missing event
Opinions instead of events, or most events missing
Revising
Finds every opinion or judgment and rewrites the summary without them
Finds some of them, or rewrites with one left in
Does not find them
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
Questions 4-5, 16 and 17 use "The Old Man and His Grandson" in Direct Instruction; questions 6-8, 10-15 and 18-20 use "The Nail" in Independent Practice. Questions 1-3 and 9 ask about theme and summary in general. Your score updates as you answer, and Reset quiz clears everything.
Multiple choice: pick an option to check it. Short answer: write your answer, then reveal the model answer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which statement is a theme?
Answer: C
A theme is a complete sentence about life that could apply beyond one story, and Choice C is one. Choice A describes the setting, where and when the story happens. Choice B is a plot event. Choice D is an opinion about the story, which belongs in a review, not in a theme or a summary.
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A student is summarizing a story about a farm family. Which sentence would NOT belong in the summary?
Answer: D
Choice D is an opinion and a judgment ("bravest," "in any book"), so it does not belong in a summary. Choices A, B and C each report a main event, which is what a summary is made of. A common error is to think a summary should end with what the reader thinks of the story.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
What is the difference between a moral and a theme?
Answer: A
A moral is a lesson the text states in so many words, like "Hasten slowly" at the end of "The Nail." A theme is usually left for the reader to work out from details. Choice B confuses a moral with the animal characters in many fables. Choice C mixes up a moral with a topic, which can be one word. Choice D confuses a theme with a summary and a moral with an opinion.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which detail from paragraph 1 of "The Old Man and His Grandson" shows most clearly that the son and his wife do not look after the grandfather's needs?
Answer: B
The words "and not even enough of it" show the couple failing to give him enough food, which is about how they treat him. Choices A, C and D describe his old age, not what the couple does. A common error is to pick a vivid detail that is on the topic but does not answer the question asked.
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
When the young wife scolds him, the grandfather "said nothing and only sighed" (paragraph 1). How does this detail help build the theme?
Answer: A
The old man "said nothing and only sighed": he cannot defend himself, so the reader feels how unfair his treatment is, which prepares for the message about how we treat the old. Choice B has no support; the tale never says he agrees. Choice C invents a plan; nothing he does is unkind. Choice D misreads "his ears dull of hearing": dull hearing is not deafness, and his sigh answers the scolding.
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In "The Nail," which detail in paragraph 2 starts the chain of events that leads to the story's lesson?
Answer: D
The stable-boy reports "A nail is wanting, sir, in the shoe of its left hind foot" (paragraph 2), and every later problem grows from that missing nail. Choice A belongs to paragraph 1 and explains why he has a heavy trunk, not what goes wrong. Choice B is a reason for his hurry, not the problem itself. Choice C is a minor detail of the journey.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Why does the merchant refuse to have the horse's shoe fixed?
Answer: B
He says "I am in a hurry" (paragraph 2) and "I am in haste" (paragraph 3). His hurry is the detail the whole tale turns on. Choice A is contradicted: he has "lined his money-bags with gold and silver" (paragraph 1). Choices C and D have no support in the text.
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
The merchant answers "Let it be wanting" at noon (paragraph 2) and "Let it still be wanting" in the afternoon (paragraph 3). Why does this repetition matter to the story's message?
Answer: C
At noon the problem is small; by the afternoon "a shoe is missing" (paragraph 3), yet he says "Let it still be wanting." The word "still" shows he knows about the problem and chooses to ignore it again. Choice A is contradicted by "still." Choice B has no support: the tale mentions two stops but never says one stable-boy works at both. Choice D has no support.
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which is the best reason to leave a detail out of a summary?
Answer: A
A summary keeps only what a reader needs to follow the main events and the ending. Choice B uses an opinion to decide, and opinions do not belong in a summary at all. Choice C is wrong because the beginning often holds a main event. Choice D is wrong because a repeated detail is often important, like the merchant's two refusals.
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
What does the last line of "The Nail," "Hasten slowly," mean?
Answer: B
To hasten is to hurry, so "Hasten slowly" (paragraph 5) sounds like a riddle: even when you are in a hurry, take the time to do things carefully. Choice A takes the words too literally, as a rule about riding. Choice C turns the setting (the fair) into the lesson. Choice D turns the ending (walking home with the trunk) into advice.
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
At noon the merchant says the shoe will last "for the six miles I have still to go," and in the afternoon he talks of "the couple of miles which remain." How do these details help convey the story's message?
Answer: D
Each time, he uses the short distance as a reason to skip the repair: "the shoe will certainly stay on for the six miles I have still to go" and "the horse can very well hold out for the couple of miles which remain." The small problem seems too small to bother with, which is exactly the mistake. Choice A adds the two distances, but the text gives the miles left at two different times, not two parts of one trip. Choices B and C have no support.
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which is the best summary of "The Nail"?
Answer: C
Choice C gives the main events in order: the two refusals (paragraphs 2-3), the broken leg and the walk home (paragraph 4), with no opinions. Choice A is full of judgments ("greedy, foolish," "deserves"). Choice B lists minor details and leaves out the problem and the ending. Choice D contradicts the text: the shoe is never fixed.
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which sentence from a student's summary of "The Nail" is a judgment, not a summary?
Answer: B
Choice B judges the character ("silly") and adds the writer's own opinion ("I would have listened"), so it does not belong in a summary. Choices A, C and D report events the text states (paragraphs 1 and 4).
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
At the end, the merchant says, "And that unlucky nail ... has caused all this disaster" (paragraph 4). Why might a careful reader disagree with him?
Answer: A
He blames the nail and calls it "unlucky," but the tale shows he was warned twice and chose to ride on: "I am in haste" (paragraph 3). The details make the message about his choices, not about bad luck. Choice B misreads the text, which says "left hind foot." Choices C and D invent causes the tale never mentions.
Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer
A classmate says the theme of "The Nail" is "a horse." Explain why that is a topic and not a theme. Then write a theme statement in your own words (not "Hasten slowly") and support it with two details from different paragraphs.
Model answer: "A horse" is a topic because it is only a phrase that names something in the story; it says nothing about life. A theme: "Ignoring a small problem to save time can lead to a much bigger loss." The merchant is told "A nail is wanting" (paragraph 2) and refuses to stop. Because of that small choice, his horse "fell down and broke its leg," and he must carry the trunk and does not get home "until quite late at night" (paragraph 4), so his hurry costs him more time than it saves. Rubric: 2 points for explaining topic versus theme, a theme stated as a complete sentence, and two details from different paragraphs; 1 point for a theme with one detail or no explanation; 0 points for a topic or a plot event given as the theme.
Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer
Rewrite this summary sentence so that it has no opinions or judgments: "The mean young wife yells at the poor old man for breaking the bowl, which is so unfair."
Model answer: "When the grandfather drops his bowl and it breaks, his son's wife scolds him." This reports what happens (paragraph 1: "The young wife scolded him") without calling anyone mean or poor, and without saying the event is unfair. Rubric: 2 points for a sentence that keeps the event and removes "mean," "poor" and "so unfair"; 1 point if one judgment word remains; 0 points otherwise.
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
The tale ends with the parents saying "nothing if he did spill a little of anything" (paragraph 3). How does this last detail connect to paragraph 1, and what does the change show about the parents?
Model answer: In paragraph 1 the couple was "disgusted" when the grandfather "spilt the broth upon the table-cloth." At the end the same thing happens, and they now say "nothing if he did spill a little of anything." The grandfather has not changed; the parents have. The change shows that the trough made them see their own behavior, and that they have learned to treat him with patience; the ending is the detail that proves the parents learned something. Rubric: 2 points for linking the spilling in both paragraphs and explaining what the change shows about the parents; 1 point for the link without an explanation, or an explanation without the link; 0 points otherwise.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
Here is a student's summary of "The Nail": "The merchant is a silly man who only thinks about money. A stable-boy tells him about his horse's shoe, but he doesn't care. The horse gets hurt, which was really sad. I think he learned his lesson." Name two problems with this summary and explain each.
Model answer: First, it contains opinions and judgments: "a silly man who only thinks about money," "which was really sad" and "I think he learned his lesson" tell what the writer thinks, not what happens. Second, it leaves out main events: the warning comes twice and the problem grows from a nail to a whole shoe, the horse "broke its leg," and the merchant has to carry his trunk home on foot. "He doesn't care" is also a guess about his feelings that the text never states. Rubric: 2 points for two problems (opinions or judgments, missing main events, or a guess about feelings), each explained; 1 point for one problem; 0 points otherwise.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
In paragraph 4, the horse "began to limp," then "began to stumble," and then "fell down and broke its leg." How does this pattern of details help convey the story's message?
Model answer: Each step is worse than the one before: "It had not limped long before it began to stumble." The pattern shows a small problem growing into a disaster one step at a time, just as it grew from a missing nail (paragraph 2) to a missing shoe (paragraph 3). The details show that small problems left alone get bigger, which is why taking time to fix them matters. Rubric: 2 points for describing the pattern and linking it to the message; 1 point for describing the pattern only; 0 points otherwise.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
A story can have more than one theme. Write a second theme for "The Nail," different from the one you wrote in question 15, and support it with one detail from the story.
Model answer: "Listen to warnings from people who know their work." The stable-boy notices the problem twice and even offers help, asking "Shall I take him to the blacksmith?" (paragraph 3). The merchant ignores him, and the horse is lost. Rubric: 2 points for a second theme stated as a complete sentence, different from the first, with a supporting detail; 1 point for a theme without a detail, or one that repeats the first theme; 0 points otherwise.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
06
Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does RL.6.2 mean?
It means sixth graders must work out a theme of a story, poem or play, explain which details convey it, and summarize the text without adding their own opinions. The standard has three parts: find the theme or central idea, show "how it is conveyed through particular details," and "provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments."
What is the difference between a topic and a theme?
A topic is a word or phrase that names what a story is about; a theme is a complete sentence about what the story shows about life. "Old age" is a topic. "The way we treat older people teaches our children how to treat us" is a theme. A quick test: if it is not a full sentence, it is not yet a theme.
Is a moral the same as a theme?
Not quite: a moral is a lesson the text states outright, while a theme is usually shown and left for the reader to work out. Many fables and folk tales end with a moral, such as "Hasten slowly" at the end of "The Nail." Students should still be able to put a stated moral into their own words and show which details support it, just as they do for a theme.
Can a story have more than one theme?
Yes: most stories support more than one theme, and RL.6.2 asks for "a theme," not the only one. What matters is that the theme fits the whole story and that the student can point to the details that convey it. Two students can write different themes and both be right if both are supported.
What should a sixth-grade summary include?
It should include the main characters, the main events in order and the ending, in the student's own words. It should leave out small details, long quotations, and anything the student thinks or feels about the story. For a short story, three to five sentences is usually enough.
How is RL.6.2 different from RL.5.2?
RL.6.2 adds two expectations: explaining how particular details convey the theme, and keeping the summary "distinct from personal opinions or judgments." RL.5.2 asks students to determine a theme "from details in the text" and to "summarize the text." In grade 6 the focus moves from finding the theme to explaining how the details build it.
What comes after RL.6.2 in grade 7?
RL.7.2 asks students to "analyze its development over the course of the text" and to write an "objective summary." Grade 7 students trace how a theme grows from the beginning to the end of a story, not only which details show it, and grade 8 (RL.8.2) adds its relationship to the characters, setting and plot.
What is the difference between RL.6.2 and RI.6.2?
They ask for the same skills with different kinds of texts: RL.6.2 is for literature and RI.6.2 is for informational texts. In a story, students look for a theme. In an article or a speech, they look for a "central idea," the main point the author explains or argues, and they summarize it without opinions in the same way.
How do teachers check RL.6.2?
Teachers usually ask students to state a theme and support it with details, to choose the best summary from several, and to write a summary of their own. Tests often include a question asking which sentence would not belong in a summary, like question 2 on this page. A short written response lets a teacher see all three parts of the standard at once.
How can parents help with theme and summary at home?
After a book or movie, ask your child two questions: "What happened, in three sentences?" and "What does the story show about life?" If the first answer includes "I liked," point out that it is an opinion. If the second answer is one word, ask your child to make it a full sentence.
07
Related Standards
5 standards
These standards connect to RL.6.2: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.
Before this lesson
RL.5.2Prerequisite
Determine a theme from details in a story, drama or poem, and summarize the text
Lesson coming soon
Alongside
RI.6.2Parallel
Determine a central idea of an informational text and summarize it without opinions
Lesson coming soon
RL.6.1Parallel
Cite textual evidence for what a text says explicitly and for inferences
