Theme Glow

This engaging reading comprehension worksheet helps students in Grades 3-5 practice identifying theme through close reading, inference, textual evidence, and literary analysis. Using a short story centered on a lantern festival, students move beyond plot details to analyze repeated ideas, author’s message, symbolism, and meaning to determine the story’s central theme.

Learning Goals

• Theme Identification (Grades 3-5) – Determine the central theme of a literary text using clues, patterns, and repeated ideas.
• Textual Evidence Skills – Highlight and reference sentences that support an inferred theme.
• Reading Comprehension & Inference – Distinguish between surface details and deeper meaning in narrative texts.
• Literary Summarization – Write a complete sentence that clearly explains the theme of the story.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with upper elementary ELA standards.
• Flexible Use – Works well for whole-class instruction, small groups, independent practice, or assessment.
• Low-Prep Design – Simple directions and a focused task make this easy to use with minimal setup.
• Supports Diverse Learners – Encourages annotation, discussion, and written response to reach different learning styles.

This printable worksheet strengthens students’ ability to analyze literature, cite evidence, and explain theme using academic language and clear reasoning. By focusing on inference, interpretation, and summarization, learners build essential reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. Whether used in a classroom lesson or a homeschool setting, this worksheet provides meaningful practice that helps students understand how small story details contribute to a powerful overall message.

This worksheet is part of our Central Themes collection.