There are several elements of a text that a student must pay attention to as they read. Theme is one of them. Theme is addressed in two of the Common Core Standards. Standard RL.2 asks students to determine the theme of a text. Standard RL.9 asks students to compare and contrast how authors convey theme.
One way to help students in this area is to have students closely read a text to look for ways than two different authors teach the same theme. The setting, characterization, and also the choice of characters that an author includes in a text each contribute to helping readers determine what the theme of a text is.