Theme

What is the theme of the following passage?

When Carl ran back into the classroom to get his lunchbox, he noticed that the answers to this afternoon’s math test were on top of Ms. Appleton’s desk. Knowing that this was his chance to do well, Carl looked around to make sure no one was watching and then quickly scribbled the answers onto his hand. Later while taking the test, Ms. Appleton noticed that Carl kept looking at his hand. She walked over to him and asked him to see his hand. When she saw the answers written on it, she tore up his test paper and called his parents. Carl failed the test and got into huge trouble with his parents.

• Cheating doesn’t pay off.

• Carl would have done better on the test if he hadn’t cheated.

• Teachers should never leave the test answers on their desk.

What is the theme of the following passage?

Rob was a tap dancer. Even though he was one of the best tap dancers around, he never let anyone at school know that he tapped. He figured that the kids would make fun of him. One day, the principal at school announced that there would be a talent show. Rob was conflicted. He knew that he could beat everyone with his tap dancing. However, if he did, everyone would know the truth. Rob decided to enter anyway. On the day of the talent show, Rob’s performance got a huge standing ovation. Everyone cheered when he won first place. Rob was relieved now that everyone knew his true talent.

• Rob overcame his fear and won the talent show.

• Your true friends will support you no matter what.

• Just be yourself and don’t worry about what others will think of you.

What is the theme of the following passage?

“It looks way too high for me,” Jill said as she looked up at the rollercoaster. “Come on, Jill! It will be lots of fun. It looks much scarier than it actually is. If you don’t like it, you never have to ride it again,” responded Quinn. Jill wanted to go on the rollercoaster with her best friend, but she was really scared. She’d only been on one other rollercoaster before and that one was tiny in comparison. However, Jill knew that Quinn was right. She should try it at least once. Even though Jill was extremely nervous, she got on the ride with Quinn. She ended up loving it so much that she rode the rollercoaster ten more times that day.

• You don’t have to do what you don’t want to do.

• Always listen to what your friends want you to do.

• Face your fears.

What is the theme of the following passage?

While Sean was away at camp, he received a package from his mother. The package contained a bag of his mother’s homemade brownies. Sean thought to himself, “If all of the other boys see these, they’ll want to have some too. There will barely be any left for me.” Sean decided to eat the entire bag of brownies before any of the other boys could see them. Within a few hours, Sean felt really sick to his stomach. Instead of playing in the soccer tournament that evening with his friends, Sean spent the evening curled up in bed all alone. He wished that he had just shared the brownies.

• You shouldn’t eat an entire bag of brownies in one sitting.

• Being selfish can lead to negative consequences.

• Everything you receive should always be shared.

What is the theme of the following passage?

Ricky had just received a $50 bill from his grandparents for having a good report card. “You should save that for something you really want,” Ricky’s mother told him. All Ricky could think about was buying another remote control car even though he already had more than he could play with. He went to the store and bought the car. A few days later, Ricky’s friends all decided to go to the amusement park. Ricky asked his mother, “Can I have $35 to go? Everyone will be there!” “We don’t have extra money to pay for that, but you can use your money,” his mom replied. Unfortunately, Ricky had spent it.

• It’s best to save your money for things you may really want later.

• Your parents shouldn’t give you money for things.

• Ricky shouldn’t have spent his money so quickly.

What is the theme of the following passage?

Rochelle was working at the counter when an angry customer started screaming at her. “I just bought this yesterday and it already broke. What kind of garbage do you sell here?” As the man continued to yell, Rochelle just smiled and apologized, even though it wasn’t her fault. She offered to replace the broken one with a new one for free. Despite the man’s yelling, she knew that remaining friendly was key. Finally, the angry customer realized how nice Rochelle had been to him and calmed down. He apologized for yelling at her and even thanked her. Rochelle was proud of how she handled the situation.

• The angry customer should always get what he or she wants.

• The customer is always right.

• Be kind, even when others are not kind in return.

What is the theme of the following passage?

Leon spent all of his time playing computer games. When his cousin Dan beat him in the spelling bee, Leon thought, “He just got lucky.” However, Leon hadn’t seen Dan spend hours and hours studying the words. When his friend Mike received the most votes for soccer captain, Leon thought, “He just got lucky.” However, Leon had not seen Mike practice for hours and hours with his teammates. While starring at his computer screen one day, Leon thought, “Something good will happen to me too.” When good things continued to happen to others and not himself, Leon assumed that he was just unlucky.

• Leon will never be able to accomplish anything by starring at the computer.

• Good things won’t happen to you unless you make them happen.

• Luck is the most important factor in life.

What is the theme in the following passage?

Jane was given a list of 500 words to learn for the spelling bee. She had only one week to memorize as many words as possible. Her father recommended that she focus on just one set of words and learn those words perfectly. Jane ignored his advice and decided that she was going to try to learn all of them. She studied 100 new words each night, which meant that she only practiced each word twice. On the day of the spelling bee, Jane immediately got eliminated because she didn’t even know how to spell the first word she was given. She realized that she had tried to tackle more than she could handle.

• It’s better to do one thing right than a bunch of things wrong.

• Jane is not the best speller in the spelling bee.

• You shouldn’t try to learn how to spell a lot of words in one week.