Picture this: You’ve just finished reading a beautiful story to your class. Your students can tell you exactly what happened—the character’s name, where the story took place, and every detail of the plot. But when you ask, “What lesson did the character learn?” or “What message do you think the author wanted to share with us?” you’re met with blank stares and confused expressions.
Sound familiar? You’re definitely not alone. Teaching theme is one of those reading skills that can feel tricky for both teachers and students. Unlike identifying the main character or setting, theme requires students to think beyond the surface and dig deeper into the story’s meaning. That’s exactly why Nellie’s Big Splash by Cori Doerrfeld is such a powerful choice for teaching theme in your classroom.
Why Students Struggle with Theme
Before we dive into this amazing book, let’s acknowledge why theme can be challenging for our second and third graders. Many students confuse theme with plot summary, thinking that retelling what happened IS the theme. Others mix up theme with the main idea, especially when we’re also teaching these concepts side by side.
The biggest hurdle? Theme is often implied rather than directly stated. Authors don’t usually end their stories by saying, “And the theme of this story is courage!” Instead, they show us the theme through the character’s actions, growth, and the lessons they learn along the way. This requires our students to make inferences and think critically about what they’ve read.
Meet Nellie: The Perfect Character for Teaching Theme
Nellie’s Big Splash tells the story of a newly hatched sea turtle who finds herself on a beach surrounded by her brothers and sisters. While all the other baby turtles joyfully run into the ocean and swim away, Nellie stays behind. She’s too scared to enter the vast, loud, and unknown ocean waters. Instead, she chooses to remain on the safe, dry sand.
As night begins to fall and the beach becomes cold and dark, little Nellie faces a choice. She realizes that despite her fears, there’s an entire world waiting for her beyond those scary crashing waves. The question becomes: will she find the courage to take that leap into the unknown?
This beautiful story from the New York Times bestselling author of The Rabbit Listened creates the perfect opportunity for students to explore theme because Nellie’s journey is so relatable and clear. Every child has experienced fear about trying something new, making this an ideal interactive read aloud for building both comprehension skills and personal connections.
Why This Book Works So Well for Teaching Theme
What makes Nellie’s Big Splash particularly effective for teaching theme is how clearly we can see the character’s growth and transformation. At the beginning, Nellie is paralyzed by fear. By the end, she’s learned that sometimes we have to face our fears to discover wonderful new experiences.
The theme isn’t hidden or complex—it’s accessible for young readers while still requiring them to think beyond the plot. Students can easily identify what Nellie learned and then connect that lesson to their own lives. This makes it an excellent choice for introducing the concept that stories often teach us important life lessons.
Another strength of this book is how it naturally leads to rich discussions about courage, growing up, and trying new things. These are themes that resonate deeply with elementary students who are constantly facing new challenges and experiences in their own lives.
Bringing Theme to Life in Your Classroom
When you’re planning your interactive read aloud with Nellie’s Big Splash, you’ll want to help students move from literal comprehension to thematic understanding. This means asking questions that guide them to think about what Nellie learns and how that lesson might apply to their own lives.
For example, you might pause during reading to ask, “What is keeping Nellie from going into the ocean?” This helps students identify the character’s internal conflict. Later, you could ask, “How did Nellie’s feelings change from the beginning to now?” This encourages students to notice character growth—a key component in understanding theme.
After reading, the magic really happens when you ask questions like, “What lesson did Nellie learn in this story?” and “What lesson might the author want us to learn from Nellie’s story?” These questions help students make that crucial leap from plot to theme.
Making Theme Stick with Hands-On Activities
The best way to ensure students truly understand theme is to help them connect the story’s message to their own experiences. Nellie’s Big Splash activities can include having students draw or write about a time when they had to be brave like Nellie, or creating a class chart about different ways people show courage.
You might also have students practice writing theme statements using sentence starters like “This story teaches us that…” or “The lesson in this story is…” This gives them concrete language for expressing thematic understanding and builds their confidence in discussing deeper meaning in texts.
These types of meaningful activities help students see that theme isn’t just an abstract concept they need to identify for a test—it’s a way to connect with stories and learn valuable life lessons.
Ready to Transform Your Theme Instruction?
Teaching theme doesn’t have to feel overwhelming or abstract for you or your students. With the right book and thoughtfully planned activities, you can help your second and third graders develop this critical comprehension skill while engaging with a story they’ll genuinely love.
If you’re excited about using Nellie’s Big Splash to teach theme but want all the planning done for you, I’ve created a complete interactive read aloud lesson that takes the guesswork out of implementation. The lesson includes page-specific discussion questions, differentiated student response activities, and a hands-on craftivity that helps students connect Nellie’s courage to their own lives.
You can find this lesson plan on my TPT store, but the easiest way to access it (along with dozens of other ready-to-teach book lessons) is through The Colorful Apple Book Club membership. Book Club members get instant access to carefully crafted lessons like this one, plus new resources added monthly to keep your read aloud instruction fresh and engaging all year long.
Your students are ready to dive deeper into stories and discover the powerful messages authors share through their characters. Just like Nellie, sometimes we all need a little encouragement to jump into something new and exciting. Let’s help them make that leap into thematic thinking together!
Ready to join other teachers who are transforming their read aloud instruction? [Learn more about The Colorful Apple Book Club here] and give your students the gift of deeper comprehension and meaningful story connections.
