Theme

Kara picked a hard piece to play for her piano recital. Her teacher told her to select an easier piece, but Kara knew she could do it. Kara practiced every day after school. When her friends called to see if she could play, Kara told them that she couldn't and continued to practice. Even with all that practicing, a week before the recital,

Kara still could not play the piece without making mistakes. Kara thought about giving up and switching to an easier piece, but instead she decided to double her practice time.

The night of the recital arrived. Kara was the last student to play.

As she walked onto the stage to take her place at the piano, she

remembered the long hours she had spent practicing.

Kara began to play. Her hands danced across the

keyboard. She knew the piece so well! When the

final note faded the room erupted in applause. She

had played the piece perfectly!

• It is too much work to play the piano.

• Kara practiced a lot and did well.

• Persistence pays off.

Kevin wasn't worried about his book report. He had three whole weeks to get it done. There was no reason to

get started right away, especially when he had just gotten a new video game! The next day, Kevin thought about going to the library to pick out a book for his report, but decided to play with his friends instead. He could go to the library on the weekend. The weekend came and

instead of going to the library, Kevin spent the whole weekend at his cousin's farm. He didn't go to the library the next week either; there was always something fun to do instead. Two weeks passed and Kevin still hadn't picked out a book. By the time he finally got to the library, there was not enough time to read the book and write the report. Kevin tried to write the report without reading the whole book, but it did not go very well. Kevin failed the assignment.

• School work is more important than playing.

• Don't put things off until the last minute.

• Kevin should have done his book report first.

The theme is the message or lesson in the story.

• True

• False

Sarah didn't want to play with the new girl in her class, Laila. at recess. No one did. Laila had come to their school after winter break. She wore strange clothes and she spoke with an accent. Then one day, the teacher put Sarah and the Laila together as partners on a class project. At first Sarah was nervous about working with someone so different, but then they began to talk. She

found out that Laila had a little brother just like she did. Not only that, they both loved to draw and they both collected sea shells. Sarah invited Laila over after school to work on the project and see her shell collection. The girls worked well together and before she left, Sarah gave Laila one of her best shells to take home for her collection. The next day, Laila invited Sarah over dinner. The food was really different than what Sarah was used to, but it was also really good. Laila's parents were nice too. The girls got an A on their project, but even better,

they became good friends.

• Don't judge people before you get to know them.

• Sarah and Laila became good friends.

• Friends are important.

Cassie was having a great time at summer camp. Her counselor was really nice and she made friends with all of the girls in her cabin. One day, a package arrived for Cassie. All the girls in her cabin watched as she opened it. It was a box of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Cassie's mother made the best chocolate chip cookies in

the world! Cassie took one out of the box and was just about to take a bite when one of the other girls asked if she could have a cookie. Then all the girls were asking. Cassie counted the cookies in the box. There were exactly twelve of them. There were ten girls in the cabin. If she gave a cookie to each girl, there would only be two left

for herself. Cassie knew that if she shared with one girl, she would have to share with everyone, so she decided not to share at all. Cassie got to eat all of the cookies herself, but from then on the other girls hardly talked to her at all and no one wanted to be her friend anymore.

• You should always share everything.

• Selfishness leads to unhappiness.

• Cassie did not share her cookies.

Benny and Danny were twins. Each week, they got five dollars in allowance. Benny always spent all of his

allowance on candy and small toys. Every so often, Danny bought some candy, but he saved most of his money in a piggy bank that he kept on his nightstand by his bed. Sometimes, Danny did extra chores around the house to earn more money. He always put his earnings into his bank. The months passed and soon school was out for summer. One day, Danny asked his parents to take him to the bike store. He had saved enough money for a new bike! Danny picked out a red bike with blue handlebars. His parents were so impressed with how much he had saved that they bought him a helmet and a bike

lock. Danny spent the summer riding his new bike around the neighborhood with his friends. Since he did not have a bike, Benny spent most of his summer alone

at home.

• You can buy more if you save your money.

• Danny is smarter than Benny.

• You should not spend all of your money on candy.

Lucy never put anything away. When she made her breakfast in the morning, she left the cereal and the milk

out on the counter, and she left her dirty bowl on the table. When she got home from school, she tossed her coat and her backpack on the floor where her mother often tripped on them when she came in from work.

One day, Lucy and her friend Amelia decided to color pictures outside under the big oak tree. Lucy had just gotten a brand new box of 108 crayons and she wanted to try them out. They sat under the tree, happily coloring until it was time for Amelia to go home. "Want

me to help clean up?" Amelia asked before she left.

"Nah, I'll do it later," Lucy replied as she headed inside to

watch TV. Lucy watched three shows and forgot about the crayons. The next day, when Lucy went outside to play, she found that the sun had melted her new crayons

into a big, goopy mess.

• Put things away when you are done using them.

• You shouldn't leave crayons out in the sun.

• Lucy is lazy.

One day, Michael's new friend, Brice, invited him over for dinner. Brice's family had a lot of money and Michael was amazed at how big their house was. His family's whole apartment could probably fit in Brice's living room! Michael's amazement turned to envy when he saw Brice's bedroom. Brice had his own computer, a big screen TV, and about every video game that was ever made! Michael had to share his tiny room with his

brother and all they had was a shelf full of books.

When it was time for dinner, the boys went down to the dining room and sat at a long, fancy table. No one else came to sit with them. A woman served them their dinner and cleaned up after they were done. "Is that your mom?" Michael asked. "No, that's Ana, our maid." Brice replied. "My parents always work late. I almost never see them before I go to bed." Michael thought about how his own family always ate dinner together. He thought about how his dad helped him with his homework and how his mom always came in to say goodnight to him at bedtime. Suddenly, he didn't feel so envious of Brice anymore.

• Michael's parents are better than Brice's.

• You should not be envious of other people.

• There are more important things than money.

Sam wanted to be a writer as long as he remembered. He was always writing stories. In 5th grade, his school had a short story contest. Sam worked on his entry for weeks. When he won 1st prize, which came with a check for $100, his classmates kept saying how lucky he was. Sam continue to write through middle school. In high school he took every English and writing class that he could. He even took a special writing class over the summer. Sam applied for three writing scholarships for college and got two of them! His brother, who had not applied for any scholarships, said that he was really lucky. Sam worked hard in college. He became the editor of the college newspaper and started posting his stories on the internet. Toward the end of his senior year, one of his writing instructors told his class about well-known magazine that was looking to hire a junior writer.

Hundreds of students applied for the job, including Sam. Sam worked for hours on his application letter. When he was selected for an interview, he spent days getting ready. Sam impressed the editors and got the job. "Man, how did you get so lucky?" asked one of his classmates.

"Luck has nothing to do with it." replied Sam.

• Sam got the job because he worked hard.

• You make your own luck.

• Some people are lucky and others aren't.

Ethan had never learned to swim. He hadn't really needed to in the city where he lived. Then his family moved moved to a new town. The town was on a lake and it soon became clear that everyone hung out down by the lake all summer long. Ethan's family had moved in the spring and Ethan had made some great new friends at the end of the school year. But now he had a big problem. Everyone just assumed he could swim and he was too embarrassed to set them straight. So far, no one had really noticed that he never went into the water. Then one day his friends decided they wanted to sit on the dock instead of on the beach. Ethan knew it would look strange if he did not come along, so he followed them out onto the dock. When they got past the shallow part of the lake, the boys started to horse around, and pretty soon they were pushing each other into the water. Suddenly, Ethan felt hands on his back. He lost his balance and plunged into the cold water. Down, down he sunk. Fortunately, the lifeguard was paying attention and was able to save Ethan from drowning.

• You should never swim without a lifeguard.

• If you can't swim, don't go into the lake.

• Speak up and tell the truth, even if it's hard!