Year 5 English: Themes and conventions: what a story teaches
Part of the Year 5 English reading fiction: summarising and comparing chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Themes and conventions: what a story teaches
The Tailor and the Button
Mr Pell was the finest tailor in Ashford, and he knew it. One autumn he began a coat so grand that it would have a thousand buttons. He sewed each button with great pride, but he was in such a hurry to be famous that he stitched them quickly and did not check them.
Soon the buttons began to talk. ‘We are too small to matter,’ said the brass button on the sleeve. ‘Nobody will look at us.’
‘Then we will fall off,’ said the button on the collar, and it did.
Mr Pell heard the whispering and frowned. He was too proud to listen. He sewed faster and faster, until his fingers were sore.
One morning, a sparrow landed on the window ledge and watched him work. ‘A coat is only as strong as its smallest stitch,’ she said.
Mr Pell laughed at her. But when the coat was finished, not one of its buttons stayed on. Mr Pell sat down, unpicked the coat, and sewed each button again, slowly this time. It took him a whole winter, and he never again called any job too small.
Key ideas
- A theme is an important idea in a story, such as courage, kindness or pride.
- A convention is a feature that many stories of one type share, such as a moral in a fable.
- A fable often has a moral: a lesson stated at the end or clear from the story.
- Support a theme with evidence from the text.
Method. Find the animal that speaks.
- Find the speaker. A sparrow landed on the window ledge and said a line.sparrow
- Write the answer. The sparrow speaks.the sparrow
- Write the answer. the sparrow
Check. The sparrow. ✓
Method. Think about what goes wrong for Mr Pell.
- Find the problem. Mr Pell is too proud to listen and does not check his stitches.proud
- Write the theme. The theme is that small things matter, and pride can make us careless.small things matter
- Write the answer. pride, or not taking care over small things
Check. Small things matter. ✓
Method. Look for the lesson the sparrow gives.
- Find the words. A coat is only as strong as its smallest stitch.smallest stitch
- Name the convention. The words give a lesson that the story teaches.a moral lesson
- Write the answer. a moral lesson
Check. A moral lesson. ✓
Exercise 8B Practice: themes and conventions
Method. Find the name in the first paragraph.
- Find the name. Mr Pell was the finest tailor in Ashford.Mr Pell
- Write the answer. Mr Pell.Mr Pell
- Write the answer. Mr Pell
Check. Mr Pell. ✓
Method. Find the number in the text.
- Find the number. The coat would have a thousand buttons.a thousand
- Write the answer. A thousand buttons.a thousand
- Write the answer. a thousand
Check. A thousand. ✓
Method. Find the reason in the first paragraph.
- Find the reason. He was in such a hurry to be famous.to be famous
- Write the answer. He was in a hurry to be famous.to be famous
- Write the answer. he was in a hurry to be famous
Check. To be famous. ✓
Method. Find what the collar button says and does.
- Find the sentence. Then we will fall off, said the button on the collar, and it did.and it did
- Write the answer. It fell off.fell off
- Write the answer. fell off
Check. Fell off. ✓
Method. Find the sentence.
- Find the sentence. He was too proud to listen.too proud
- Write the answer. He was too proud to listen.too proud
- Write the answer. he was too proud
Check. Too proud. ✓
Method. Find the sentence about the finished coat.
- Find the sentence. When the coat was finished, not one of its buttons stayed on.not one stayed on
- Write the answer. Not one of the buttons stayed on.not one stayed on
- Write the answer. not one stayed on
Check. Not one stayed on. ✓
Method. Look at what Mr Pell did to the coat.
- Find the word. Mr Pell sat down, unpicked the coat.unpicked
- Write the word. Unpicked.unpicked
- Write the answer. unpicked
Check. Unpicked. ✓
Method. Think about where a bird can land.
- Read the sentence. The sparrow landed on the window.window
- Write the meaning. A ledge is a shelf or a narrow flat part.shelf
- Write the answer. a narrow shelf on the outside of a window
Check. A shelf or narrow flat part. ✓
Method. Think about the lesson Mr Pell learns.
- Find the lesson. Mr Pell learns that small things, such as stitches, matter.small things
- Choose. B is the moral.B
- Write the answer. B
Check. B. ✓
Method. Look at the text for the features.
- Look for an animal. The sparrow speaks.speaks
- Look for a lesson. The sparrow gives a lesson.lesson
- Write the answer. an animal speaks, or a lesson is taught
Check. Either convention is correct. ✓
Method. Think about what each story teaches.
- Legend. Oona is brave, so courage is a theme.courage
- Fable. Mr Pell is proud, so pride is a theme.pride
- Write the answer. courage and pride
Check. Courage and pride. ✓
Method. Think about what the text says he did.
- Look at what he did. He stitched quickly and did not check them.quickly
- Give the reason. The text says he was in a hurry and too proud to listen.in a hurry
- Write the answer. Yes, because he was in a hurry and did not check his stitches; or no, because the buttons were not sewn well by anyone
Check. The answer uses the text. ✓
Method. Think about what you would like to know.
- Choose what is unclear. The text does not say why the sparrow speaks.not stated
- Write the question. Why did the sparrow decide to speak to Mr Pell?Why did the sparrow decide to speak to Mr Pell?
- Write the answer. Why did the sparrow decide to speak to Mr Pell?
Check. A question about the story. ✓