Theme Test Practice

When Carl ran back to 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.

What is the theme of this passage?

• Cheating doesn't pay off.

• Carl would have done better on his test if he hadn't cheated.

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

The substitute teacher yelled, "If you talk one more time during the lesson, I'll take away recess from the entire class." Many other substitutes had said the same thing before, but had never actually take away recess, even when the class continued talking. Thinking that this substitute would be the same way, Bobby whispered to his friend. "No recess for the entire class!" the substitute yelled. "If you talk again, I'll also give you extra homework!" When the substitute actually made them stay inside during recess, the class knew that she meant business. They weren't going to talk again while this substitute was around.

What is the theme of this passage?

• The class learned to be quiet whenever they had this substitute.

• Actions speak louder than words.

• Always listen to your teachers.

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 anyways. 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.

What is the theme of this passage?

• 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.

When Eric's mom asked him to chose twenty toys to donate to the sick children at the Children's Hospital, Eric got upset. "I don't want to give away my toys!" he exclaimed. "You have way more than you need," his mother responded. When Eric arrived at the hospital with his bag of toys, the nurse asked if he would like to give them out. When Eric gave out the toys, he saw how much the children there appreciated them. Eric felt really good about giving them away. When Eric got home, he decided that for his birthday, he would rather have his friends and family donate toys to the hospital than give more to him.

What is the theme of this passage?

• Children don't need a lot of toys to be happy.

• It's better to give than to receive.

• You should give your birthday gifts to charity.

"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 be 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.

What is the theme of this passage?

• 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.

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.

What is the theme of this passage?

• Being selfish can lead to negative consequences.

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

• Everything you receive should always be shared.

Katie and her best friend Shawna always wanted to sit with the popular girls at lunch. One day, one of the popular girls asked Katie if she would like to sit with them. Katie was really excited about joining the popular girls. At lunch, Katie looked over at Shawna sitting all alone. She looked really sad. Katie decided to ask the popular girls if Shawna could join them, too. "No way! We can't sit with her," they replied. With that response, Katie picked up her lunch tray and left the popular girls' table. She realized that her friendship with Shawna was way more important than eating with the popular girls.

What is the theme of this passage?

• Friends can sometimes make each other feel bad.

• The popular girls are not nice girls to hang out with.

• Being popular is not the most important thing in life.

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.

What is the theme of this passage?

• 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.

Olivia had forgotten her lunch at home. At the lunch table, Olivia's friends saw that she didn't have anything to eat and started to offer her things from their own lunches. When Cara handed Olivia some apple slices, Olivia said, "No way! You know I hate apples." When Bella offered Olivia some tuna fish, Olivia said, "I can't eat that. It stinks!" Olivia figured that if she turned down these things, her friends would give her the better things from their lunches. When Anna offered Olivia some cheese, Olivia said, "Eww, gross!" Eventually, Olivia didn't get any more offers for food and had to return to class hungry.

What is the theme of this passage?

• Be polite to your friends.

• Don't be picky when others are offering to give you something.

• Always bring your own lunch to school.

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 the 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.

What is the theme of this passage?

• 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.