Theme Theme Task Cards 3rd-5th Task Cards 12 story theme cards, recording sheet, and answer sheet. Created by Beckie Lincoln
Directions: There are several ways you can utilize these task cards. I like to form small groups where students determine the theme with their group. You could also review the cards as a class, or use them as an assessment. The possibilities are endless!
Jamie was walking in the grocery store when she found $20 on the ground. Jamie instantly thought of all the yummy treats she could buy at the bakery. Then, Jamie looked over towards the customer service desk and noticed a lady looking for something on the ground. Jamie looked at the delicious bakery items, and then decided to walk towards the customer service desk. Jamie looked at the customer service worker and said, I found this $20 bill on the ground as i entered the store. The lady looking for her money instantly gave Jamie a huge hug and thanked her for being honest. 1 Tyler loved playing basketball; in fact, he was really wanting to tryout for the 6th grade team. However, Tyler didn t think he was prepared to face the other boys, so he came up with a game plan. Tyler decided he would practice his basketball skills everyday after school for 45 minutes. Tyler didn t give up and kept practicing each day. By the time tryouts rolled around he felt ready! Tyler showed off his new skills to the coaches and made sure he hustled after each drill. On the last day of tryouts Tyler waited patiently to see if his name was called. Finally, the coaches called out the boys that made the team.tyler was excited to hear his name called! 2
Jamie s school was preparing for a huge science fair! she was excited about it, but she hadn t started her project yet! oh well... she still had another week before it was due, which meant she still had time. The days continued to pass by, until two days before when Jamie remembered about her project! Jamie looked on the internet for ideas, but she didn't see any project ideas she liked. Finally, she found this super neat project idea that involved turning flowers different colors! Oh man- she was super pumped now! Jamie started gathering all of her materials and then suddenly she discovered that the flowers had to soak in food coloring for five days! Oh no... her project was due in two days! Now Jamie didn t know what to do! 3 Danielle was a little apprehensive about today. Today was Danielle s first day at a new school. She loved her old school, which made this day even more difficult! Danielle got to know some of the kids in her class throughout the day, but she still didn t feel very comfortable in this new environment. It was finally lunch time, which was the part of the day she dreaded! She had no idea where to sit and she certainly didn t want to look silly. After she picked up her lunch tray she looked all around the crowded lunchroom. Danielle started to panic when all of a sudden she heard a group of girls shout, Danielle- come sit with us! She was so relieved that some girls from her class took her lunchroom fear away!. 4
Justin was looking forward to recess today because today was the monkey bar challenge! Justin had been practicing all week, and he was pretty confident that he had the best monkey bar skills in the class. Ms. Taylor walked the class outside and then the class took off running. All of a sudden his best friend, Ricky fell flat on the ground! Justin needed to be the first one to the monkey bars, but his best friend just hurt himself! Justin quickly thought about it and then he realized that helping his friend was much more important. 5 Haley was eagerly anticipating the first weekend in December. Her family had started a tradition which involved making dozens and dozens of cookies for all of the neighbors. Haley learned how to make different types of cookies thanks to this special tradition. That first weekend in December Haley woke up extra early to start decorating goody bags for the cookies. While Haley was decorating the bags she thought about an idea. Hmm... I bet they would love the cookies. whispered Haley. Then, Haley ran upstairs and shouted, Mom- I have a great idea! Haley then began to explain to her mom how she wanted to make extra cookies to take to the homeless shelter. At the end of the weekend, Haley s family made over 15 dozen cookies which were donated to the homeless shelter! 6
Everyone around school was talking about the upcoming spelling Bee. Lacey had dreamed about competing in the spelling Bee since she was in 1st grade, so she decided to practice each night. Kara on the other hand knew she would be one of the students competing. After all, she was by far the smartest girl in her entire class. Kara didn t need to practice, but she sure liked to tell people how smart she was. On the day of the spelling Bee Lacey was really nervous. She believed in herself, but she knew there were some strong competitors competing as well. Kara on the other hand wasn t nervous; in fact, she forgot all about the competition because she was so focused on bragging to other students. Once the practice round began several students were eliminated right away, including Kara! In the end, Lacey was able to compete in the next round of the spelling Bee. 7 Jared did not want to study for his math test. He much rather play outside or play with his new video game. However, Jared needed to study for this test because he didn t so very well on the last one. His friend, Victor called him and said, Jared- let s get together and study for this math test. Jared was shocked, why would Victor want to study with him? After all, Victor didn t need to study, he probably made A s on all of his math tests. Jared didn t want to decline his offer so he told him to come over. When Victor arrived Jared asked him why he wanted to study since he knew he didn t really need to. Victor replied with, I don t need to study, but I want to help you since you re my friend. 8
Carly went to get her haircut on Sunday. She picked out a new style and was excited to see what it would look like on her. Carly showed her hairstylist a picture and then the hairstylist started chopping away. When the hairstylist was finished cutting her hair she was shocked. Oh no... she did NOT like her hair at all! Ugh, what would she do!? Carly was so disappointed; she thought this new style would look great on her. Carly was very quiet on the way home from the salon. Carly s mom looked at her and said, Carly- I know you don t like your hair that much, but you have to remember there are more important qualities about you. Carly sat quietly and thought about this statement. Her mom was right. She didn t need to be so focused on her appearance. There are other qualities that are much more important. 9 Corey really enjoyed learning all about space in his 4th grade class. Corey had studied space facts for several years, so he thought he could share a few space concepts with his classmates. One day, Mr. Harper was talking about the phases of the moon and he accidently messed up one of the phases. Corey instantly wanted to shout out and correct him, but instead he kept quiet and later spoke to Mr. Harper about his mistake. 10
Andrew and Mark were best friends. Mark was riding his bike one day when he fell off and broke his leg. Mark was so disappointed, especially when the doctor explained that he would have to stay off his leg for several months. Mark was also a little nervous about returning to school with a giant cast on his leg. Andrew felt bad for Mark, especially when he saw the size of the cast he had to wear. During the day Mark started receiving comments from other kids in the class. One boy shouted, That cast is the size of Texas! Andrew didn t want to listen to these boys shout out rude comments to his friend, so he decided to stand up for him! Andrew replied with, Why don t you just worry about yourself? Sure enough, the boys stopped picking on Mark. Andrew definitely showed courage by standing up for his best friend. 11 Emma enjoyed helping her teacher out on a daily basis. Emma constantly listened to her teacher and followed all of her directions. One day, several of Emma s classmates tried to convince her to not follow the teachers directions. Although it was tempting to do what other people were doing, Emma wanted to show her teacher that she was a dependable person. Emma told her classmates that their decision wasn t the right decision. Later that day, Emma s teacher asked her to run an errand outside, which was something their teacher didn t ask just anyone to do. It pays to be dependable! 12
Theme Board 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Theme Board- Answer Key Please remember some theme answers may be subjective. Sometimes some themes overlap, so there may be more than one answer. Honesty Friendship 1 2 3 4 Perseverance Hard work pays off Don t wait until the last minute Helping others Kindness 5 6 7 8 Giving to others Hard work pays off Be humble Friendship Friends help each other. 9 10 11 12 Appearance is not everything. Respect Courage Dependability
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