Central Idea and Supporting Idea

Directions: Determine what the theme is for each story and explain your answer.
Remember, a theme is a lesson or message in the story. Write in complete
sentences.
1. Katie Clean invited Messy Missy to her house to work on their biology project, but
Katie Clean had no idea what a visit from Messy Missy entailed. First of all, it was
raining and Messy Missy neither bothered to take her boots off nor thoroughly wiped
them on the doormat. Then Messy Missy ate a bag of hot chips on Katie Clean's white
bedspread without asking, and Messy Missy is a sloppy eater, so hot chip powder got
all over the bedspread. Katie Clean tried to be polite and ignore Messy Missy's sloppy
behavior, but then Messy Missy threw her chip wrapper on the floor. Offended, Katie
Clean pretended that she was sick and asked Messy Missy to leave. The next day
Katie Clean asked the teacher if she could work by herself. After explaining her
situation, the teacher allowed Katie to work alone. Messy Missy would have finished
the assignment by herself, but she spilled grape soda all over her assignment.
What is the theme of the story? Answers may vary. Respect other peoples'
property. Choose your partners carefully.
What happens in the story that leads you to believe this? Missy ruins Katie's property
and had to work alone.
2. Money Mark was born rich. He never had to work a day in his life and he got
everything handed to him on a silver platter. When he was six, Money Mark wanted to
go to a basketball game. His father paid the starting five of the Bulls and Celtics to
play a private game of Nerf-ball in Money Mark's bedroom. When Money Mark turned
thirteen, he wanted to start a band. His father hired the Rolling Stones to play with
him every Saturday at the family's private concert hall, though his family was never
there. By the time he was twenty-one, Money Mark was bored with life. He was
surrounded by a bunch of possessions that he didn't appreciate and Money Mark
could find nothing new or exciting in his life. Despite his vast wealth, Money Mark
never found happiness. Penny Petal was born poor. Her family hardly had anything to
eat, but they loved each other. Penny Petal appreciated everything she got. When she
was six, her father walked her around the United Center before the Bulls played the
Celtics. She was excited by the crazy fans and feeling in the air. She looked forward
to the day that she could see a real game. When she was thirteen, she learned to play
the buckets. She was an extremely talented musician, a natural percussionist, and
everyone on the block loved the rhythms that poured from her palms.
By the time
she was twenty-one, Penny was a successful businesswoman. Now she had everything
that she had ever dreamed of and she truly loved to share her wealth and happiness
with her family who supported her through all of the hard times.

What is the theme of the story? Answer may vary. Money doesn't buy happiness. You
don't appreciate the things for which you don't work.
What happens in the story that leads you to believe this? Mark was rich but
miserable. Penny was poor but happy.

3. 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.
What is the theme of the story? It is better to do things right the first time. Work hard,
play hard.
What happens in the story that leads you to believe this? Sammy blew off his work but
it caught up with him.
4. Mr. Pig and Mr. Dog were hanging out at the food court of the animal shopping
mall. Mr. Pig was eating a huge feast of pizza and drinking a large jug of fruit punch
and Mr. Dog was watching him eat. "Hey, Mr. Pig. If you give me a slice of your pizza,
I'll let you have the next bone I find." Mr. Pig declined, even though it hurt his
stomach to eat the last three slices of pizza. "I'm sorry, Mr. Dog," Mr. Pig said, "but I
paid for this pizza and it's all mine." Mr. Dog sighed and waited for Mr. Pig to finish,
and then they left the animal mall together. On the way out, a hunter spotted them
and gave chase. Mr. Pig normally could have escaped the hunter but since he was
weighed down by such a large meal, Mr. Pig collapsed and the hunter killed him. Mr.
Dog easily escaped. Later that night while returning to the scene, Mr. Dog caught the

scent of something delicious and began digging around a trash can. He found a large
ham bone with lots of meat and marrow still stuck to the bone. Mr. Dog happily ate.
What is the theme of the story? It is better to share. Don't be greedy.
What happens in the story that leads you to believe this? Mr. Pig died because of his
greed. Had he shared with r. Dog, he might have escaped.
5. In his sophomore year of high school, Michael Jordan tried out for the varsity
basketball team at Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. But at five feet
and eleven inches tall, the coach believed that Jordan was too short to play at that
level, so Jordan was cut from the team. Jordan didn't let this obstacle defeat him. In
fact, it pushed him to work even harder. He trained vigorously and grew another four
inches
the
following
summer.
When
he
finally
made
the
varsity
squad, Jordan averaged 25 points a game and went on to become one of the greatest
basketball players in history.
What is the theme of the story? Never give up. Persistence pays off.
What happens in the story that leads you to believe this? Jordan could have quit
basketball his sophomore year, but he continued playing and became one of the best
players in history.

Theme Worksheet 6
Directions: Determine what the theme is for each story and explain your answer.
Remember, a theme is a lesson or message in the story. Write in complete sentences.
1. Frank and Joseph were super excited that the teacher assigned them to the same
group. Unfortunately, she also assigned George to their group. George never did any
work, so Frank and Joseph knew that they were going to have to pull his weight. Over
the next week the two boys worked extensively to create and rehearse their
presentation while George annoyed the girls who sat near him and played with his
phone under his desk. Frank asked Joseph whether they should tell the teacher about
George's failure to contribute to the project, but Joseph advised him against it because
he didn't want them to be known as snitches. So George continued to play as the other
boys worked. On the last workday, Frank and Joseph debated whether or not they
should even write George's name on the project, but they decided to do it just to avoid
conflict. Soon it was time to deliver the presentation. Frank and Joseph bounced back
and forth in a lively conversational way, delivering facts to the audience and
demonstrating their knowledge of the subject. Unfortunately, when it was George's

turn to present, he just turned his back to the audience and read from the visual aid
in a dry monotone voice. He mispronounced several words and didn't seem to
understand what he was reading. Shortly after the presentation, the boys received a
score sheet from their teacher. They had each received a B and the comment, "Frank
and Joseph: nice presentation but I would like to see George get more involved next
time. Please try and include him."
What is the theme of the story?
What happens in the story that leads you to believe this?

Suggested Answer: Don't allow yourself to take responsibilities for other people's
failure; don't bury your head in the sand; address your problems before they affect you
negatively.
Answer Explanation: Frank and Joseph have numerous opportunities to address
their problems with George. They could discuss these issues with him or their teacher,
but they don't. They enable George to do nothing in their group and he gets away with
it because the boys are afraid of being called names. Frank and Joseph are affected
negatively by failing to confront their problems.

2. Katie exhaled calmly. After several long nights of studying, she finally felt ready for
the exam. Walking into her English class the next morning, Katie coolly focused on the
task before her. As the teacher walked up and down the rows distributing the test,
Katie heard a noise, "Psst" Katie turned to see Shannon staring at her desperately.
Shannon whispered, "I forgot to study. Please let me copy off of you. I'll do anything."
Katie refused, "I can't risk it Shannon." Each knew that if the teacher caught them,
they would both fail, but Shannon persisted, "Come on, Katie. Help me out. I'll give
you fifty bucks." The teacher turned toward them from across the room, "Ladies,
please, it's test time." Katie didn't want to jeopardize her future, but fifty dollars was a
lot of money to her, so she silently nodded at Shannon. During the exam Katie kept
her test document on the corner of her desk near Shannon, giving Shannon a clear
view of all of her hard work. Shannon copied Katie's test exactly, even the writing
portion word for word. After the test Katie approached Shannon in the hallway. "When
am I going to get the fifty dollars?" Shannon sneered at her. "Ha, never. What are you
going to tell someone that you let me copy? Please..." Shannon snapped at Katie. Katie
ran away crying, upset that she had been deceived and worried that she would get
caught cheating.

What is the theme of the story?

What happens in the story that leads you to believe this?

Suggested Answer: Do not trust a dishonest person; do not be surprised if a cheater
cheats you; you can't cheat an honest person; don't compromise your beliefs for greed;
a desperate person will clutch at straws.
Answer Explanation: Katie knew that cheating was both wrong and risky. She
initially refuses Shannon's plea, but Katie makes a bad decision in the end because
she got greedy. Perhaps Katie's biggest mistake was trusting Shannon, who had
already proven herself untrustworthy and dishonest before she offered Katie the
money. Katie was foolish to think that the dishonorable Shannon would honor a
promise that would cost Shannon so much.

3. Twin brothers Jack and Willie had more differences than commonalities. Willie was
tall and Jack was short. Willie was always joking around while Jack was a very
serious person. Perhaps their greatest difference was that Willie learned things quickly
and easily in school while Jack had to study long and hard. Willie had the time of his
life during high school. He played around a lot, did very little work, and managed to get
Cs in most of his classes. On the other hand, Jack had a difficult time during high
school. He played around very little, worked really hard, and, like Willie, managed to
get Cs in most of his classes. When the twins went away to college, they acted in much
the same way even though things had changed. Willie went right to his usual tricks of
skating by and doing as little as possible, while Jack continued to work hard in all of
his classes. Since he had worked hard his whole life, Jack noticed that the work in
college was much more difficult, but he was prepared for it. Willie did not really notice
that the difficulty had changed until the semester was over. Jack managed to
get Bs and Cs in all of his course while Willie earned mainly Ds and Fs and was placed
on academic probation.

Suggested Answer: Ability alone is not enough; persistence pays off.

Explanation: Willie has natural academic ability but squanders his potential because
he is lazy. Jack has to put forth a lot more effort but he outperforms Willie in the end.

4. For the last few months the team at J & J Marketers had been working hard to
launch a new campaign for a major soft drink. Much of the work had already been
done, but the team still needed to agree on a color scheme for the campaign. The team
was evenly divided into a group that liked the pink and green color scheme and
another that liked pink and brown. The marketers decided to bring in a young man

named David from the mailroom. David had shown some promising characteristics in
the past, and the team was excited to give him a chance to prove himself. Such a
chance could lead to a full-time position in the marketing department with a
significant raise. The marketing team filled in David on the new campaign and
explained to him the current color scheme dilemma, but rather than speaking to the
color scheme, David took issue with the slogan. "I just don't like how it sounds. Also,
this logo is boring. It would look a lot better if it had some balloons or something
behind it." The marketing department thanked him for his input and sent him back to
the mailroom. The next day they decided to bring in an outside consultant to help
them resolve the color scheme dilemma.

Suggested Answer: Don't rock the boat; don't talk your way out of a good thing; do
the job that you were asked to do.
Explanation: David is given a rare opportunity to advance in his company, but he
blows his chance by offering more advice than was solicited from him. Had he just
focused on doing what he was asked to do, he would be in a better position.

5. 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.

Suggested Answer: If you try to make everybody happy, you will make nobody happy;
it is better to do one or two things the right way than a whole bunch of things the
wrong way.
Answer Explanation: Pam tries to make everybody happy by doing everything they
want to do, but there just isn't enough time for that. The ladies probably would have
had much more fun if they would have just agreed on one or two things to do. Also,
they would have spent a lot less time in the car.