BELL-RINGER: 12/1/14

Read the short story and identify the theme
(lesson). Write it in your notes.
Jenny was so excited. She had a pack of Starburst in her
lunch and she had been looking forward to eating them all
morning. Lunch finally came and Jenny sat down to eat her
Starbursts when her friend Judy sat next to her. “Let me get the
pink ones,” asked Judy. Jenny liked the pink ones best, but she
thought Judy was funny and Jenny wanted Judy to like her, so
Jenny gave Judy all of her pink Starbursts. Before Jenny was
done giving Judy the pink ones, Carrie sat on the other side of
Jenny. “Let me get the red and the orange ones, Jenny.
Remember when I gave you that Snickers?” Jenny did not
remember that, though she did remember when Carrie ate a
whole Snickers in front of her, but Jenny thought Carrie was cool,
so she gave her the red and the orange Starbursts. Now that she
only had the yellow ones, Jenny was not so excited about eating
starbursts anymore.
THEME
WHAT IS THEME?
A main idea, moral, or lesson conveyed
in a provided text. The message may be
about life, society, or human nature.
Themes often explore timeless and
universal ideas and are almost always
implied rather than stated explicitly.
THEME
is
THE
MEssage
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.
2.
For each proverb, you must identify the theme
Then briefly explain WHY it is appropriate
Proverb #1
A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them
fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit
was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The
two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit
with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop,
that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took
heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down
and died.
The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again,
the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He
jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the
other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?" The frog explained to
them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the
entire time.
-author unknown
Proverb #2
Once there was a mean little boy who lived in a small
village. This mean little boy loved to mess with people, so
one day he ran up to a sheep herder and shouted, “WOLF!
WOLF! A wolf is attacking the town!” The sheep herder
grabbed his staff and ran to defend the town, but realized
he had been fooled when the boy started pointing and
laughing at him. “Ha ha! I made you jump,” said the
boy. Then the boy ran up to a farmer and shouted,
“WOLF! WOLF! A wolf is attacking the town!” The
farmer grabbed his pitchfork and ran to defend the town,
but when the boy started pointing and laughing at him,
he realized he had been tricked. As the boy went back to
his family’s farm laughing about the funny trick he
played, he saw a real wolf in his father’s chicken coop. As
the wolf ate all of his father’s chickens, the boy screamed
over and over again, “WOLF! WOLF! Please help us!”
But nobody came to help him.
Proverb #3
Angie loved to draw. She made colorful designs of
people’s names with bright hearts & flowers, but she lost
own markers, so she borrowed her teacher’s. The school
day was ending, but Angie wanted to keep coloring, so she
took the teacher’s markers home and lost them in her
messy room. She came back to school the next day and
wanted to color again, so she asked the teacher for more
markers. The teacher replied, “Sure, Angie, but this is my
last pack.” Angie said she would be careful, but by the end
of the day the markers were scattered all over the floor and
the custodian swept them up and disposed of them. When
Angie came in the next day, she asked the teacher for more
markers, but she was disappointed to find that there
weren’t any more. “I don’t know where all of my markers
went,” said the teacher, “but I don’t have them.” Angie
had to draw her pictures with drab pencils.
Proverb #4
Jenny hated reading class. She didn’t understand
point of view or figurative language, and not knowing how
to do the work frustrated her. She asked the teacher for
help, but he spoke so fast and used such big words that she
still couldn’t understand. The teacher asked if she
understood, and she nodded her head, but she didn’t.
Jenny’s friend Katie knew that Jenny was having trouble,
and, rather than just giving Jenny all of the answers, Katie
explained to Jenny how to solve the problems. Katie spoke
clearly and at Jenny’s level, and Jenny was happy that she
finally learned how to do the work. Later in the week,
Katie was having trouble in math class. She didn’t
understand coordinates and was really frustrated. Seeing
that Katie was having problems, Jenny, who understood
math very well, taught Katie coordinates. Both girls made
honor roll that quarter.
BELL-RINGER: 12/2/14

Read the short proverb and identify the moral
(lesson) of the story. Write it in your notes.
Once upon a time there was a Miser (someone who doesn’t like to
spend money) who used to hide his gold at the foot of a tree in his
garden; but every week he used to go and dig it up and brag over
his wealth. A robber, who had noticed this, went and dug up the gold
and ran away with it. When the Miser next came to brag over his
treasures, he found nothing but the empty hole. He pulled at his hair,
and threw such a fit that all the neighbors came around him, and
he told them how he used to come and visit his gold.
"Did you ever take any of it out?" asked one of them.
”No," said he, "I only came to look at it."
"Then come again and look at the hole," said a neighbor;
"it will do you just as much good."
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.
For each song, you must identify the theme
2.
Then briefly explain WHY it is appropriate
BRAINSTORM……..

Which themes should we be paying attention to
as we listen and read the lyrics?
Love
Acceptance
Identity
Overcoming
Adversity
Good vs. Evil
Friendship
Perseverance
Loss of Innocence
Unreturned Love
Ill-Fated Love
Loyalty
Heartbreak
SONG/QUESTION 1: KATY PERRY, “FIREWORK”
Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,
Drifting through the wind
Wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards,
One blow from caving in?
Do you ever feel already buried deep?
6 feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there's still a chance for you
'Cause there's a spark in you
You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July
'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
SONG/QUESTION
2: BILL WITHERS, “LEAN ON ME”
Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain, we all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow
Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on
Please, swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you won't let show
You just call on me, brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on
SONG/QUESTION 3: BON JOVI, “IT’S MY LIFE”
This ain't a song for the broken-hearted
No silent prayer for the faith-departed
I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd
You're gonna hear my voice
When I shout it out loud
It's my life
It's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
It's my life
SONG/QUESTION 4: TIM MCGRAW, “LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING”
I went sky divin',
I went rocky mountain climbin',
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull name Fumanchu.
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I've been denying,
And he said someday I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'.
He said I was finally the husband,
That most the time I wasn't.
And I became a friend a friend would like to have.
And all the sudden goin' fishing,
Wasn't such an imposition.
And I went three times that year I lost my dad.
Well I finally read the good book,
And I took a good long hard look at what I'd do
If I could do it all again.
And then.
Like tomorrow was a gift and you've got eternity
To think about what you do with it,
What could you do with it, what can
I do with with it, what would I do with it.