Theme essays are difficult for young writers because a theme is an idea, not an event, and students often confuse the two. Callum McBride offers a helpful entry point since its central character was adopted after being found on a ferry as a baby, and the story connects that history to his unusual ability. Questions about where someone comes from and where they belong give students something personal to reason about.

Before students write, spend a class period separating topic from theme. A topic is a word like adoption or friendship, while a theme is a full statement such as "Knowing where you come from can help you accept who you are." Having students draft three possible theme statements and vote on the most defensible one gives them practice at the exact skill the essay will assess.

This lesson also creates a natural place to talk about sensitivity. Some students in any classroom have their own experience with adoption, foster care, or complicated family situations, and the unit works best when the discussion centers on the characters and the text. Offering a choice of related prompts lets students engage at a comfortable distance.

Building a defensible theme statement

A strong theme statement is specific enough to argue and broad enough to apply beyond the book. Students often write "Callum learns to be himself," which is vague, so teachers should push for a version that explains how or why the learning happens. A revised statement might connect his search for answers to the way he learns to trust another person, and that gives the essay a clear direction.

• Write the theme as a complete sentence rather than a single abstract word
• Choose three moments in the novel that each show the idea from a different angle
• Explain how the character's choices, not just the narrator's words, reveal the theme
• Address a complicating moment where the theme is tested or challenged
• Close by connecting the idea to readers' lives without abandoning the text

Grading the thinking, not just the structure

Because theme essays can follow a five-paragraph template, it is tempting to grade mostly on structure. A better approach is to score the quality of reasoning separately from organization, so a student with a rough format but an insightful idea is not buried. Your rubric might give the largest share of points to how well the evidence supports the stated theme.

Look for evidence of independent thought, such as a student noticing that Callum's ability and his origins seem connected and asking what that suggests about identity. Reward that curiosity even when the sentences are clumsy, and use feedback to help refine the phrasing. Students learn quickly when they see that interesting thinking is valued more than a perfect template.

Supporting students who struggle with abstraction

Some students can retell the book flawlessly but freeze when asked for an idea. Sentence frames can bridge the gap, such as "The author suggests that ___ because ___." These frames are scaffolds, not crutches, and they can be removed gradually as students gain confidence in forming their own claims.

Small-group discussion before writing also helps. When students talk through why Callum might feel unsettled about his past, they hear several interpretations and learn that more than one reading can be supported. That exposure to different viewpoints tends to produce essays with more nuance and fewer predictable conclusions.

Giving useful feedback on theme drafts

Feedback on a theme draft should first check whether the central idea is truly a theme. If the student has written a topic, the best comment is a question that prompts the upgrade, like "What is the author saying about adoption, not just showing it?" This keeps the writer in control of the revision and respects their original direction.

After the theme is settled, move to evidence. Ask students to mark each quotation in a color and then label the sentence that explains it, so gaps become visible without a teacher having to circle everything. When many drafts need this kind of comment, consistent rubric-based feedback tools can speed up the first pass while teachers handle the more personal responses.