What is Missing?
The big bad wolf wanted pigs for dinner. The wolf blew down the houses, except the house made of bricks and the pigs were safe and sound.
Which part is missing from the summary?
"But": The pigs kept hiding in new houses made of straw, sticks, and brick.
In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest. "Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?" "I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same." "Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew.
Work first and play/relax later.
There is a time for work and a time for play.
Somebody
Wanted
But
So
Then
Beginning, Middle, and End
John and Joe were talking about the best baseball team. Before long, the discussion turned into a big argument and they were calling each other names. At this point, the conversation was not going anywhere. Neither of them were listening to each other.
Theme:
Listen and respect other people's opinions, even if you disagree.
or
Always give your opinion.
Listen and respect other people's opinions, even if you disagree.
Jack is seven years old. He has all his teeth. His friends have lost one or more teeth. They love to see their new teeth grow. Jack wants to lose some teeth. He wants to be more like his friends. He wiggles his teeth every day to check. Disappointed, he does not feel any loose teeth. Then, a few days later, he had a loose tooth and was able to pull it out after some wiggling. Jack is happy and can't wait to meet the tooth fairy.
S: Jack
W: loose a tooth like his friends
B: He had no loose teeth
S: He wiggled them and waited
T: He lost a tooth just like his friends had.
Cinderella wanted to go to the ball at the palace, but her evil stepmother wouldn't let her. Her fairy godmother used magic to help her.
Which part is missing from the summary?
"Then": After some mishaps, Cinderella fell in love with the prince and they lived happily ever after.
There was once a small squirrel who lived in a large forest. One day, the squirrel was running through the forest collecting acorns when she heard two bears talking in hushed voices. Then, one of the bears was roaring like he was in pain. The squirrel ran over to see what was going on. The bears were trying to get a thorn out of one of their paws. When she offered to help they said, "Get out of the way. There is no way a small squirrel like you can help". Finally, when they were making no progress, the squirrel spoke up and said her small nails and fingers would be perfect for the job. Hesitating, the bear let her give it a try. She quickly pulled the thorn out and the bear was relieved.
Do not judge a book by its cover.
It was a hot day. Zoe went to the beach with her family. She couldn't wait to swim in the ocean! Dad set up the umbrella. Mom spread out the towel. Zoe put on her life jacket. "Can we go swimming now?" Zoe asked.
"First we need to put on sunblock," Mom said. She looked inside her bag. "Oh no! We forgot the sunblock!"
Zoe frowned. She really wanted to go for a swim.
"Don't worry. I'll go get some," Dad said. He went to the boardwalk and was back in five minutes. Mom, Dad, and Zoe all put on sunblock and they ran to the ocean!
S: Zoe
W: to go swimming
B: they forgot sunblock
S: dad went and bought some
T: they put on the sunblock and went swimming.
After working for hours, Blake realized he wasn't getting anywhere with his toothpick bridge. It was crooked and leaned off to the side. He slumped into his chair, disappointed that his efforts hadn't turned out. After looking at it for a while, he realized that the crooked bridge's supports made perfect diamonds. He tried placing toothpicks in the center of the diamonds. It turned out that that design worked a lot better and held more weight than the first one.
Theme:
Just do your best.
or
You can grow and learn from failure.
You can grow and learn from failure
Maria looked in all the usual places for the basement key. She needed to leave for school, and her schoolbag was locked in the basement. Having no choice, she went to find her mom and asked for the spare key. Finally, she was in the basement, getting her bag and heading to school.
S: Maria
W: her schoolbag
B: it was locked in the basement and she could not find the key
S: she asked her mom for the spare key
T: she was able to get her bag and head to school
Little Red Riding Hood met a wolf who tricked her by locking her Granny up and pretending to be Granny. So, Little Red got away and a woodcutter who was working nearby killed the wolf. Then, little red riding hood saved her Granny and they lived happily ever after.
Which part is missing from the summary?
"Wanted": Little Red Riding Hood wanted to take her Granny some treats.
A monkey put his hand into a jar of cookies. He grasped as many as he could possibly hold, but when he tried to pull out his hand, he was prevented from doing so by the neck of the cookie jar. Unwilling to lose the cookies, and yet unable to withdraw his hand, he burst into tears and was bitter with disappointment.
Do not be greedy.
Grace and her dad finally got to go on their annual back-to-school camping trip. Grace was so excited because they would go fishing, swimming, and best of all make s'mores! It was finally dark enough to make a fire. Grace went to get the chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers out. Uh-oh! The chocolate bag was chewed open and all the chocolate was gone. Grace was very upset. They could not have s'mores without chocolate! She took it to her dad. "Dad, look! Something got into the chocolate and now it is all gone. Now we can't have s'mores!" Grace sighed. He told her not to worry, went to his truck, and pulled out some peanut butter cups. They made their way to the campfire with their marshmallows on sticks. That night, they made the best s'mores!
S: Grace
W: s'mores
B: The chocolate was gone
S: They used peanut butter cups they had
T: They made amazing s'mores.
Isabella was worried about getting all the work done for her party. She was running around trying to clean up and finish the decorating too. When her mom and sister came downstairs and offered to help, she sighed in relief. She gave them both tasks, everyone got busy and they were done within 20 minutes. They had plenty of time to spare before the guests showed up.
Theme:
If you work as a group, you can accomplish more.
or
To have a good friend, you must be a good friend.
If you work as a group, you can accomplish more.
Michelle had been working hard at practice. It was the big game and she was on the field, staring at the ball. She wanted to win the game for her team. Her team was ahead when she tripped and landed on her ankle. She was put on the sidelines and worked hard to make her ankle feel better using ice and whatever else she could. After a while, she was ready to get back in the game and help her team score the winning goal. Her ankle her, but she did not care because her team had won!
W: to win her game
B: She hurt her ankle
S: She used ice to get better on the sidelines
T: She helped her team win the game, despite some pain.
The three bears wanted to eat their porridge when they returned from their walk. When they arrived home, they discovered someone had broken into their house, eating their porridge. After following some clues, they found Goldilocks sleeping in Baby Bear's bed.
Which part of the summary is missing?
"Then": She awoke, scared, and left. They never saw each other again.
A Hare is boasting about his speed in front of the other animals and challenges any one of them to race him. A Tortoise accepts his challenge. At first the Hare thinks it’s a joke, but the Tortoise is being serious. So, soon after they begin the race. The Hare runs full speed ahead and to make fun of the Tortoise, he decides to take a nap. The Tortoise keeps slowly going and going. When the Hare wakes up, he notices that the Tortoise is near the finishing post and the hare fails to win the race.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Ron wanted a new toy for his birthday, but his family told him he had too many toys already. Ron decided that he would go through all of his toys, find the ones he did not play with anymore, and get rid of them. When he told his mom what he was doing, she was so proud of him for being a problem solver. They decided to donate the toys to other kids who did not have new toys. He liked the way this felt to help others so he did the same with some of the other things around him he did not need. He ended up with a new toy for his birthday and his family was very proud of him for being selfless.
S: Ron
W: a new toy
B: his mom said he already had too many
S: he donated his toys
T: he got a new toy and he learned to be more selfless.
The worker ants working tirelessly at building their hill. They built new tunnels and chambers without stopping until the project was nearly finished. Just then, a dog ran through the area and stepped on their hill. However, the ants didn't despair. Instead, they kept right at it and repaired the damage. Another day the rain made some of the tunnels collapse. The ants never gave up and patiently worked on their home so that it was always in good condition.
Theme:
When things do not go your way, trying something new.
or
You can overcome challenges if you're patient and work hard.
You can overcome challenges if you're patient and work hard.
Dan couldn't wait for summer camp so that he could get away from his little brother, Gavin, and his annoying friends. He would be free of them for a whole week! Sitting around the campfire out camp, he was surprised to find himself thinking of his family and feeling lonely and sad. He also thought of how much Gavin would love the fire and s'mores. He was sure to give Gavin a big hug when he got home.
True or False:
The central message is to take a break from your family every once in awhile.
FALSE
An old man and woman made and baked a gingerbread man to have as their son. Everyone was chasing him and he came to a river. He trusted a fox to help him across and was eaten.
What part is missing from the summary?
"But": When he came out of the oven, he came to life and ran away.
There lived a group of mice under a tree peacefully. But once a group of elephants came that way and destroyed their homes and it killed many of them. The king of rats decided to approach the elephant chief and request him to guide his herd through another route.
The elephant king agreed to this and took another route to the water. And so the lives of the rats were saved. One day a group of elephant-hunters came and trapped the group of elephants in huge nets. Then the elephant king suddenly remembered the king of the rats. When the rat king heard about this, he took his entire group of mice and they cut open the nets which trapped the elephant herd. So the elephant herd was totally set free.
It is important to be a good and helpful friend.
It is important to be thoughtful towards others.
Susan wanted to bake a cake for his granny. When she was mixing ingredients, she realized she was out of sugar. She did not have time to go all the way to the store before her granny would be there. She decided to go ask her neighbor to borrow a cup of sugar. Her neighbor gave Susan a cup of sugar so she was able to back home and bake the perfect cake. When her granny arrived, she had just finished decorating the cake. They sat down to enjoy the cake together.
S: Susan
W: bake a cake for her granny
B: She was out of sugar
S: she borrowed a cup from her neighbor
T: She made the cake and enjoyed it with her granny
Kevin was excited to pass out the holiday cards he had made for each of his neighbors. A short time after delivering the cards, he got a card back. The card read, "Thanks for the card, Kevin. It meant a lot since I don't have family in the area". Kevin told his mom about the card and she gave him a hug reminding him that by being kind, you never know who you will touch in a special way.
Theme:
You should send cards to other people.
or
Treat others with kindness. You never know what someone else is going through.
Treat others with kindness. You never know what someone else is going through.
Hannah's eyes gleamed with greed as she pulled the cookies she had just baked out of the oven. Soon, her little sister walked into the kitchen with her friend and asked if they could have a cookie. Hannah responded that they were her cookies and if they wanted some, they would have to make their own. Alone again, Hannah devoured all the cookies. Before she knew it, she had a stomachache from eating so many sweets.
Being selfish or greedy can lead to negative or bad outcomes.