End of Quarter Theme Review

Theme Review
Finding the message of a story

• Themes are a lesson or message ANYONE can learn from a story.

• Theme will not mention the characters from the stories, but instead what the characters LEARN from the story.
  

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You should already know...

Multiple Choice

Which WORD best describes a summary?

• Universal

• Main idea

• Summary

• Specific

Multiple Choice

Which would most likely be a theme?

• Sally Ride persevered and overcame many obstacles.

• Space is scary.

• In order to be successful, you must learn to never give up.

• We should not go into space because we don't know what's out there.

Multiple Choice

Which is NOT true about a theme?

• The theme will be something we can learn about the world.

• The theme is usually a sentence or two about a life topic.

• The theme is usually something we infer, not written in the story.

• The theme will explain what a specific character did and learned.

How to find the theme...

• You need to READ the WHOLE story in order to find the theme.
  

• You need to NOTICE what characters learn and any comments about life the author makes.
  

• You need to INFER what WE are supposed to take from the story.

What would be the theme here?
With winter coming, all the bugs and animals had to prepare.
While the ants gathered food and warmed their houses, the cricket simply enjoyed the fall breeze and played his violin.
When the first snow fell, the ants were cozy in their tunnels, while the cricket froze to death.

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For example...

Multiple Choice

What would be the theme of the Cricket and the Ants story?

• Crickets should get ready for winter.

• One should prepare for the future before enjoying the present.

• The ants should have helped the cricket.

• You need extra food and warmth in the winter.

Multiple Choice

How is the theme SHOWN in the story?

• We can learn from what happened to the cricket.

• We can learn from when winter shows up in the story.

• We can learn from the cricket's violin.

• We can learn from the the ants collecting food.

What would be the theme of this story?
In a spell of dry weather, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher with a little water in it. But the pitcher was high and had a narrow neck, and the Crow could not reach the water.

Then an idea came to him. Picking up some small pebbles, he dropped them into the pitcher one by one. With each pebble the water rose a little higher until at last it was near enough so he could drink.

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For example...

Multiple Choice

Which of the following would NOT be a theme for the Crow and the Pitcher?

• The Crow was successful when he stopped and thought of a solution.

• You have to be creative to solve some problems.

• Using your mind and persevering leads to success.

• In order to survive, you have to think of solutions to problems.

Multiple Choice

Why is this NOT a good theme for the Crow and the Pitcher:

"The Crow was successful when he stopped and thought of a solution."

• It's not a lesson.

• It mentions the main character

• It doesn't start with "the theme of the story is..."

• It doesn't make sense.