Theme Practice

Tammy and Sammy were both students in Mr. Morton’s reading class. Mr. Morton wasn’t too strict about deadlines, and Sammy took advantage of that. He did all of his homework in his other classes but never bothered to complete Mr. Morton’s reading assignments, figuring that he could complete them later. Tammy, on the other hand, completed each assignment Mr. Morton assigned the night that he assigned it. She had to stay up a little later, but she didn’t want to get a penalty for turning in her reading work late. Tammy knew reading was a core subject and that she had to keep “C” average for the entire year or she would have to go to summer school. When the end of the quarter came, Tammy and Sammy had both planned on going to the Enchanted Castle amusement park, but Mr. Morton called Sammy’s mother, and she grounded Sammy until he turned in all of his work. That weekend was horrible for Sammy. He stayed up until 2:00 AM each night and still couldn’t complete all of the assignments. The whole while, Tammy had a great time eating pizza at Enchanted Castle, watching movies late at night, and enjoying her weekend free of stress and pressure. At the end of the quarter, Sammy was lucky to squeak by with a “C” minus in reading while Tammy earned an “A.” Sammy still hasn’t learned his lesson and probably won’t complete this activity either.

• School stresses people out.

• Kids know more than their parents.

• It is better to do things right the first time.

• Staying up late can have negative health consequences.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.6.5

It was Sean's first day at a new high school. Most of the students had been nice to him, until he got into gym class. The coach had assigned two captains, Mike and Malik, and they were picking teams from the boys in Sean's class. As Mike and Malik made their picks, it became pretty clear to Sean who was popular and who was not. Since Sean was short for his age, Mike and Malik just assumed that Sean could not play basketball. As Mike and Malik's choices dwindled, Sean still remained amongst an ever-slimming pool of struggling athletes. Now there were only two students left: Sean and another kid who seemed nice but was reading a book. Mike and Malik joked about who was going to get stuck with whom, and then Mike made his last pick. It was not Sean. Sean sighed and reluctantly joined Malik's team. As soon as the game began, Mike became aware of the error that he had made. Sean quickly stole the ball from him and ran it back for a layup. "The new kid got lucky," Mike remarked, but it soon became clear that Sean had more going for him than luck. What Sean lacked in height, he made up for in speed, and he continued to dominate the action on the court for the remainder of the game. With Sean's blazing speed and crazy crossovers, Malik's team devastated Mike's, and that was the only time that Sean would be last pick at that high school.

• Size can be a true indicator of ability.

• Popularity doesn't always lead to happiness.

• Just because you're a captain of a team doesn't mean you are always right.

• Appearances can be deceiving.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.3

Genevieve was obsessed with details. She felt that everything that she submitted to her teacher had to be perfect. For the final project in reading class, students were given one week to use their art skills to bring a scene from a novel to life. Genevieve decided that she would build a shoebox diorama. She spent the first two nights creating an intricately detailed scene far superior to anything that her classmates would produce, but she ended up throwing it away because she didn't like how tape was visible at the bottom of the diorama. The next two nights she worked on a similar diorama, but this time she used glue. Again, Genevieve produced a beautiful product, but she was troubled by how the glue looked when it dried, so she discarded her work again. Over the weekend and into the next week, Genevieve recreated the project a third time. This time she used a special adhesive putty to construct the diorama and was completely satisfied with the appearance. Unfortunately, her project was now several days late and her grade on the assignment was lowered to a C.

• It's important to be happy with what whatever the circumstance.

• Don't let the details distract you from the bigger picture.

• It's better to pump out quantity rather than quality.

• It is important to be a perfectionist, especially with intricate details.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.3

What is the theme of the story below?

A fly bit a bald man on the head. The man tried to shoo the fly away. But the fly landed on the man’s head and bit him again. This made the man furious. He slapped his head to squash the fly, but the fly few away just before the man delivered a stinging slap to his own head. The fly landed on the man’s head a third time and laughed at him. “You would hurt yourself just to get back at me?” he taunted. The man was so enraged that he tried to hit the fly with a rock. Instead he knocked himself, senseless, to the ground.

• Make sure you have a fly swatter handy at all times.

• Get out of the way of pests.

• Don't put yourself in the pathway of fools.

• Don't always let your anger control what you do.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.2

All are possible themes for this story except for what?

It was two weeks until Pam and her friends graduated from the 8th grade. Pam decided to put together a final event so that she and her friends could celebrate together. Since she wanted everyone to have a lot of fun, she started asking her friends what they wanted to do. Chelsea wanted to skate at the roller rink. Beth wanted to shop at the mall. Patricia wanted to see the animals and the zoo, and Vivica wanted to go to the beach. Pam figured that she could make everybody happy so she planned to do everything. On the day of the big event, the girls met up at Pam's house in the early afternoon. They started off at the roller rink, but by the time everyone got on a pair of skates and did a few laps, Pam was ushering them off. "Sorry, ladies, but we've got to go." Chelsea sighed. About an hour later the girls arrived at the mall. Beth chirped with excitement, but the ladies were only able to visit a store or two before Pam was rushing them off again. "The zoo closes soon. We've got to go." Beth huffed. After another 45 minutes of driving, the girls arrived at the zoo and Patricia exclaimed, "I can't wait to see the giraffes!" Unfortunately, all of the animal houses were locked as the zoo was closing. "Well, I guess we've got to go," Pam stated. Patricia frowned. Thirty minutes later the girls arrived at the beach, but the sun had almost set and it would be night soon. "Let's not even bother," Vivica said dejectedly. Nobody smiled on the way home.

• If you try to make everybody happy, you will make nobody happy.

• Pam needs to pick better friends.

• It's better to do one or two things the right way than a whole bunch of things the wrong way.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.2

Read the following passage from this story.

Rohan triumphantly lifted the trophy above his head. Despite all the obstacles, he had won. Beneath his cheerful exterior, he felt a twinge of the constant pain he’d learned to live with. Almost unconsciously, Rohan removed one hand from the trophy and rubbed the thin red scar that snaked around his ankle. He thought back to the surgery and the weeks spent lying in his bed, unable to compete. The months of exercises to strengthen his leg. “Rohan!” he heard the crowd scream, as if in slow motion. A smile broke across Rohan’s face, shattering his thoughts. He returned his hand to his trophy, firmly grasping it.

Which of the following is most likely a theme of the story?

• Some goals are too hard to achieve even if you try many times.

• Through determination, you can overcome big challenges.

• You need the support of your family to overcome challenges.

• When you achieve a goal, you shouldn’t brag about it.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.2

Themes are about universal topics. For example, a topic could be compassion, relationships or fate. A theme is often stated as a judgment about one of these topics. For example, a theme about the topic of relationships could be "relationships teach you important lessons."

Which of the following could be the theme of a story?

• You can never turn your back on your family.
  
• A young girl returns to her family after moving far away.
  
• Most people have at least one brother or sister.
  
• “I’ll never speak to you again,” she said quietly to her mother.
  

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.2

Stories that come from different parts of the world, cultures or time periods can have the same theme.

Read the following passage from a story.
Eriene gazed across the field, noticing how peaceful Creature's Cove seemed now. The only evidence of the battle were the scorched patches of earth dotting the landscape like a sunburn. Eriene clasped the jade pendant that dangled heavily under her robe. Her great-aunt's words echoed in her head. "This necklace has always belonged to the protector of what is good and just in the kingdom. Now, it belongs to you."
Eriene had passed her first test, the dragon no longer a threat to the kingdom's way of life. Wisps of smoke drifted up from the land that its poisonous breath had burned. Soon, new grass would poke through, and memories of the battle would recede into the past. But Eriene knew this was not the end. This dragon lay slain in the Yonderland. But its spirit would return again and again in different forms.

Which of the following is most likely a theme of the story?

• Evil can easily be defeated.
  
• Good people are difficult to find.
  
• Good and evil always exist together in the world.
  
• People often forget the things they don't want to remember.
  

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.5

In most stories, you have to analyze the characters' traits and the events of the plot to infer the theme. Characters are the people, animals or creatures in stories. The plot is the sequence of events in the story.

Read the following passage from a story.
Marta was stumped. She had turned the details of the case over and over in her head, trying to figure out the answer. The suspect had somehow entered the store, stolen the artwork and exited without leaving any trace or fingerprints. Marta paced, her movements matching her storm of thoughts. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the new technological device she had been given to use, which she'd been avoiding like the plague. "I wonder…" she thought.
Hesitantly, Marta typed the details of the case into the device's keyboard. It whirred and spat out a list of similar cases and how they'd been solved. Reading through the information, Marta was amazed. She had been pondering for hours, but 30 seconds with this device, and she could find answer! With new respect, she rushed off.

Which detail from the passage provides the best clue that a theme of the story is "technology can have good effects"?

• "The suspect had somehow entered the store, stolen the artwork and exited without any trace or fingerprints."
  
• "Marta paced, her movements matching her storm of thoughts."
  
• "Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the new technological device she had been given to use, which she'd been avoiding like the plague."
  
• "She had been pondering for hours, but 30 seconds with this device, and she could find her answer!"
  

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.5

You and your friend might analyze the plot and the characters of a story and come up with two different correct themes.

Read the following passage from a story.
Wind whipped at Vanessa, Mo and Jaime's faces as they trudged up the mountain. "Do you have the ice samples?" Vanessa questioned Mo again."Why don't you carry them the rest of the way?" he responded irritably. Mo was digging into his backpack to retrieve the samples when suddenly, a gust of wind snatched them out of his hands, sending them tumbling down the mountain."
If we lose those, this was all for nothing!" Vanessa cried. The wind roared angrily, churning flakes of snow that had newly begun to fall. How far had the samples gone? The three scientists stared at each other in horrified silence."
I'll go back for them," Jaime spoke up quietly.
Vanessa and Mo looked at Jaime. He was the smallest and youngest of the group, barely strong enough to carry his large backpack.
"I'll go," he said louder.

Which sentence from the passage provides the best clue that a theme of the story is "Courage can be found in the people you least expect it"?

• "'Why don't you carry them the rest of the way?'" he responded irritably.
  
• "How far had the samples gone?"
  
• "The wind roared angrily, churning flakes of snow that had newly begun to fall."
  
• "He was the smallest and youngest of the group, barely strong enough to carry his large backpack."
  

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.5