Theme Sentences from Paragraphs

Family comes before everything.

"Mom, guess what!" Claire yelled as she came through the door. "Taylor Carson invited me to her skating party tomorrow night! It's going to be so much fun!" Mom frowned. "I know you really want to go to that party, but tomorrow night is Grandpa's 80th birthday. You know that. We've been planning the party for months. Claire's face fell. "Oh no. I forgot," she moaned. "But can't I go to the skating party? Grandpa will hardly even notice if I'm not there." "Absolutely not," replied Mom. "He most certainly will notice. you are his only grandchild and family comes first. Always." Claire knew by the tone of her mother's voice that there was no arguing. She was so mad and so disappointed. She had been excited about her grandfather's party. Now she didn't even want to go. On the night of the party, Claire spent most of her time sulking, wishing she were skating with her friends. Then Grandpa called her over to his chair. "Claire-Bear," he said, "it means the world to me that you are here to celebrate my birthday. You are so very precious to me." Claire's resentment disappeared. Mom was right. Skating would have been fun, but this was more important.

You can buy more if you save your money.

Benny and Danny were twins. Each week, they each 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 he 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.

Selfishness leads to unhappiness.

Cassie was having a wonderful time at summer camp. Her counselor was really nice and she had 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 was 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 at all and no one wanted to be her friend anymore.

Waiting until the last minute helps you make the best decision.

David went on a trip with his friends. While they were out having fun, one of his friends suggested that they should go skydiving. David wasn't sure if he wanted to do it or not, so he decided to go with his friends and wait to decide. The next day, David got ready with his friends and went to the skydiving location. David had not dressed differently, or thought about his decision. He was just going with the flow. When he got to the place, his friends asked him if he wanted to go. Again, David said he didn't know. He was scared of heights and jumping out of the plane, but he didn't want to make his decision yet. Two hours, David made it on the plane, and was the next person up to jump out. The instructor asked him "So, do you want to jump out?" Finally, David made his decision, "Yes!" David and the instructor jumped out of the plane and flew down towards the ground. They opened the parachute and slowly got to the ground. Once they got to the bottom, David turned to his friends and said "Thank you for not making me decide earlier. If I had, I would have never gotten on the plane, and this was the BEST experience ever.

Speak up and tell the truth, even if it is difficult.

Ethan had never learned to swim. He hadn't really needed to in the city where he had lived. But then his family 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, own he sunk. Fortunately, the lifeguard was paying attention and was able to save Ethan from drowning.

Telling the truth can sometimes hurt the people around you.

Jenna had a best friend named Obinze she had been friends with since Kindergarten. One day, Obinze confessed to Jenna that he had a crush on a girl in their class named Lucia. Lucia and Jenna were friends, so Jenna decided to talk to Lucia and ask her what she thought of Obinze. The next day, Jenna decided to share with Obinze the truth about how Lucia felt about him. Unfortunately, Lucia did not like Obinze back (she thought he was ugly). Obinze started to cry. Even though he wanted to know the truth, it didn't make him happy to hear that the girl he liked thought he was ugly.

Saving is difficult, but worth it in the end.

Jenny loved to play video games. One day, a really popular game came out that had all her favorite missions and battles. Jenny wanted this game more than anything else, but her parents refused to buy it for her. Jenny decided she wanted the game enough to find a way to buy it herself. She decided to work for her neighbors cleaning their pools, mowing the lawn, and doing any other small favors she could. After six weeks, Jenny had finally saved enough money to buy her video game. Unfortunately, that day, she lost her phone, and had to spend her hard earned money to buy a new one. Jenny did not give up, though. She started working again. This time, it took her two months to earn enough money for the game. Finally, she bought her game, took it home and started to play. She very quickly fell in love with the game and rose to the top 10 in the rankings.

Cheating does not pay off in the end.

John had not studied or the big math test. When he got his test, he quickly realized that he had no idea how to solve the problems. Luckily, John sat right behind Mariana. Mariana was the best math student in the class and he could see her paper. John copied all of Emily's answers. The next day when Mrs. Jenkins passed back the graded tests, she told that class that only two students had gotten A's. Since these two students had done so well, she would have them explain some of the more challenging problems to the class. Emily was first. Mrs. Jenkins wrote a problem on the boards. Emily solved it easily and explained each step to the class. Then it was John's turn. Again, Mrs. Jenkins wrote a problem one the board. Of course, John did not know how to solve problem. A long moment passed as John stood in front of the board trying to figure out what to do. Some of his classmates started to whisper and snicker. "Can you solve this problem?" Mrs. Jenkins finally asked. Humiliated, John just shook his head. Now everyone knew he had cheated and he was in big trouble.

Sharing leads to many friendships.

Juliana was new to her school. She was usually shy and quiet, and didn't know many people. Juliana's mom loved to cook and would make Juliana the largest, most delicious lunches ever. Unfortunately, Juliana didn't have any friends to share it with. The second week at her school, Juliana decided to invite some kids from her class to share some of her food during lunch. That day, a group of six students joined Juliana to have some of her food. All of the kids were impressed by how good the food was. They got excited and wanted to share the best of their parents' food. That day, they formed a lunch club where students would bring one large dish from home to share during lunch. Thanks to Juliana's first lunch sharing invitation, she created a lunch club that brought many people together.

Working hard isn't worth it if no one else works hard.

Justin had a basketball coming up. He always worked hard and tried his best. He would always stay long after practice was over and keep shooting baskets and working on his free throws. The week before his basketball game was no different. Justin focused during practice, stayed for two hours after, and made sure he got a good night's sleep. During this week, his teammates were playing around, staying up late, and getting in trouble in class. The day of the game arrived. Two of the starting players were benched because of their behavior, one player was slow and sleepy because he hadn't been sleeping, and only Justin and the fourth player were ready to play. During the game, Justin wouldn't pass the ball to the other players because they were "benchwarmers." He tried his best to score as many baskets, and he even broke the record that game for most points earned in a game. When the game ended, Justin's team had lost by 30 points. The worst defeat his team had ever had.

Persistence pays off

Kara chose a difficult piece to play for the piano recital. Her teacher advised her to select an easier one, 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 the 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 on stage to take her place, she remembered the long hours 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!

Don't put things off till the last minute.

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, but decided to play with his friends instead. He could go to the library on the weekend. The weekend came and rather than 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.

Being jealous of rich people leads to more jealousy.

Laysha went to school at a nice private school. Even though her family didn't have a lot of money, she was able to get a scholarship because she worked hard and got good grades. One day, she saw a girl at her school get out of a really expensive car. Later in the day, this same girl was eating sushi for lunch. SUSHI! The more Laysha saw the girl, the more she hated the girl. Why did she have so much money? It wasn't fair! As weeks went by, Laysha started finding more and more things about the girl that annoyed her. Slowly, Laysha started hating more and more people because of the things they had that she didn't. Finally, Laysha hated everyone around her.

You should put things away when you are done using them.

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 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.

Treat people with kindness.

Mara's family lived next door to a very grumpy old lady named Mrs. Olson. Mrs. Olson was always yelling at Mara's family for making too much noise, or leaving toys in the driveway, or letting their grass grow too long. One day, Mara was playing in the front yard when Mrs. Olson dropped a whole bag of groceries on her porch. Mara rushed to help. Despite Mrs. Olson's objections, Mara helped her to bring the groceries inside and to clean up the broken jar of applesauce. The next day, Mrs. Olson called Mara over to her house. At first, Mara was a little scared. But Mrs. Olson just wanted her to help get some boxes down from the attic. After that, Mara started helping Mrs. Olson around the house a few times a week. Sometimes, Mrs. Olson would offer her tea and the two of them would sit at Mrs. Olson's big kitchen table and drink their tea and chat. The years passed and Mara grew up and went to college, but whenever she came home, she always made sure to visit Mrs. Olson. One day, Mara got a letter from a lawyer. Mrs. Olson had died in her sleep. Mara was sad, but also surprised. The letter said that Mrs. Olson had thousands of dollars int he bank and she left it all to Mara.

Plan ahead and be prepared.

Mr. Jones decided to take his family camping. It was a beautiful weekend and the family was excited about the trip. SO he packed up the car and away they went. At first they had trouble finding an empty campsite. Most of the other campers had made reservations ahead of time. When they finally found one, Dad asked the kids, Tim and Katie, to pitch the tent. It wasn't long before Tim reported that he could not find the tent stakes. Sure enough, they were nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, mom was trying to light the portable stove, but Dad had forgotten the matches. Not only that, they did not have a can opener to open the can of spaghetti sauce they had bought for dinner or a pot big enough to cook the noodles. Then Katie discovered that they had forgotten to bring the sleeping bags! It soon became clear that camping was not going to happen. Grumpily, Dad packed everything back into the car and they drove back to the city. They picked up a pizza on the way home and everyone slept in their own beds that night.

Actions speak louder than words.

Mr. Tuttle was doing a unit on nutrition with his students. He decorated his classroom with posters showing healthy foods. Every day, he lectured his students about the importance of making good food choices like eating lots of fruits and vegetables and staying away from junk food. Over the weekend, some of Mr. Tuttle's students went to the mall. They saw Mr. Tuttle in the food court. He was eating a corndog, French fries, and drinking a chocolate milkshake. "Wow," said Jenna to one of her friends, "I guess eating healthy isn't important after all." "I wonder why he says all that stuff if he doesn't believe it." Tracy replied. "I was going to get a salad, but now I think I'll just get a slice of pizza and a soda instead." "Me too," said Jenna.

There are more important things than money.

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, an 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. lNo 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.

Real friends don't go away when times are tough.

Ryan's life changed when he got sick. He didn't have a cold or the flu. Ryan had cancer. He got very sick and had to stay in the hospital for a long time. When his class at school found out about his illness, the teacher had them all make cards for him. Ryan had been popular with his classmates and while he appreciated the cards, he was surprised that no one from his class come to visit him, no one expect James. James was a nice kid, a little shy, so Ryan had never gotten to know him well, but he had always liked him. On that first visit, James brought Ryan some of his favorite comic books to read. James continued to visit Ryan a few times a week. James kept him updated on what was happening at school and helped him to keep up with the work that their teacher sent. James kept coming to the hospital, even when the cancer made Ryan so weak that he could hardly move or talk. In fact, he came more often. The cancer treatments worked and Ryan got better. He returned to school and was greeted enthusiastically by his classmates. Although lots of kids wanted to play with him at recess and sit with him at lunch, Ryan preferred to spend most of his time with James.

You make your own luck.

Sam had wanted to be a writer for as long as he could remember. He was always writing stories. In fifth grade, his school had a short story contest. Sam worked on his entry for weeks. When he won his first prize, which came with a check for $100, his classmates kept saying how lucky he was. Same continued 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. Sa 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 Sam 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.

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

Sarah didn't play with Laila, the new girl in her class, at recess. No one did. Laila had come to their school after winter break. She wore strange clothes and spoke with an accent. Then one day, the teacher put Sarah and 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 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 for dinner. The food was really different than what Sarah was used to, but it tasted really good. Laila's parents were nice too. The girls got an A on their project, but even better, they became good friends.

Judging people helps lead to lasting and meaningful friendships.

Shawn was a nice and easygoing kid. He loved to play football, basketball, volleyball, and pretty much any sport. One day, he saw a kid walking around his neighborhood who was new and looked like he might be good at sports. The next day, Shawn walked around the neighborhood looking for the new kid. Twenty minutes later, he found him sitting on a soccer ball by the empty field down the street. Shawn decided to go up to him and try to get to know him. After introducing himself, Shawn asked the kid, Jose, if he wanted to play soccer together. Four hours later, Shawn and Jose were laughing together and playing basketball. Shawn was happy that he had decided to talk to Jose and that they could become such close friends thanks to sports.