Next Gen Learning
📖 READING (40 Lessons) • 🔵 B. Understanding Stories
Find a simple moral or lesson of a short story and tell which story events show that lesson.
Some stories are just for fun. Other stories are also trying to teach us something.
The moral or lesson of a story is:
When you finish a story, you can stop and ask:
Here are some simple lessons that show up in many stories:
Sometimes there can be more than one good lesson if you can explain it with story events.
Good readers can say:
Today, you will read a tiny story, tell what lesson it teaches, and name at least one thing that happens that shows that lesson.
Picture strip: Story events and lesson
How to use this mini-book:
On your paper, write or complete: “The lesson is ________.” Under it, draw or write one thing that happens in the story that shows that lesson.
Frames: “The lesson is…”, “We learn to…”, “The story teaches us to…”
It is lunchtime at school.
Jade opens her bag and looks inside.
“Oh no,” she says. “I forgot my lunch at home.”
Jade sits quietly at the table.
Her friend Omar opens his lunchbox.
He has a sandwich, an apple, and two cookies.
Omar looks at Jade's empty spot on the table.
He cuts his sandwich in half and breaks one cookie in two.
“You can share with me,” he says.
Jade smiles and takes the half sandwich and half cookie.
“Thank you for sharing,” she says.
They both feel full and happy.
What lesson does this story teach?
Read each tiny story or sentence. Drag the word or phrase that makes the best lesson or moral into the box. Chips stay in their own question. When you are done, press “Check sentences.”
Story: The Lost Lunch (mini-book above). At the end, Omar shares his food with Jade.
The lesson is to
when someone needs help.
A child says, “The dog broke the vase,” but really they did it. Later they feel bad and tell the truth.
The lesson is to tell the
.
A girl falls off her bike many times. She feels upset but keeps trying. At last, she rides all the way down the sidewalk.
The lesson is: Don't
when something is hard.
A boy finds a little bird with a hurt wing. He gently cares for it and gives it food and water. When it is strong, he lets it fly away.
The lesson is to be
.
In the classroom, one child drops a box of crayons. Two other children bend down and help pick them up.
The lesson is to
,
even when it is not your mess.
A new student sits alone at recess. A girl walks over and says, “Do you want to play with us?”
Soon they are all playing a game together.
The lesson is to
so no one feels left out.
A boy loses a board game and feels upset. At first he says, “You cheated!” but then he stops and says,
“I'm sorry. You won. I just don't like losing.”
The lesson is to be
.
A girl bumps into her friend and makes him drop his drawing. She says, “I'm really sorry,” and helps him
make a new picture. He smiles and says, “It's okay.”
The lesson is to
when someone says sorry.
A boy wants to run into the street to get his ball. His dad says, “Stop! Wait for me.” The boy stops and holds
his dad's hand before crossing.
The lesson is to
to trusted adults who keep you safe.
A girl keeps forgetting her library books. She feels bad when she cannot check out a new one. That night, she puts a note
on the door and sets a little alarm so she remembers.
The lesson is to be
with your things.