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Grade 9 Theme & Moral Worksheet with Answers

Grade 9 (US) · Year 10 (UK) · Class 9 (India) · English

Unit 4: Reading LiteratureThemeCCSS RL.9-10.2

Finding the lesson or message of fables and short stories, and telling a theme from a topic. This free high school worksheet has 12 questions and a full answer key. Print it or save it as a PDF — every answer is checked by code, not guessed.

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Theme & Moral

Grade 9 · English

Score___ / 12

Name

Class

Date

Learning goal: Theme · CCSS RL.9-10.2

Directions: This worksheet has 3 parts. Read the instructions at the start of each part.

RememberThe story mountain (plot)

Expositioncharacters, settingRising actionproblems buildClimaxturning pointFalling actionthings settleResolutionhow it ends
Part A

Read each short text. What is the lesson?

  1. 1

    The dog saw its reflection holding a bigger bone, snapped at it, and dropped its own bone.

  2. 2

    Two friends found a bear. One climbed a tree and left the other behind.

  3. 3

    A tiny mouse freed a lion from a net, after the lion had spared its life.

  4. 4

    The ant worked all summer. The grasshopper played, and had no food in winter.

  5. 5

    The tortoise kept going slowly and beat the speedy hare, who stopped to nap.

  6. 6

    A boy cried "Wolf!" as a joke. When a real wolf came, nobody believed him.

Part B

Read each short text. What is a theme?

  1. 7

    The ugly duckling was teased, then grew into a beautiful swan.

  2. 8

    The king had all the gold he wanted, but he turned his daughter to gold by touching her.

  3. 9

    Maya practiced piano every day for a year. At the recital, she played perfectly.

  4. 10

    Nobody in town liked the strange new neighbor, until he saved a child from a fire.

Part C

Answer each question. Use full sentences where you can.

  1. 11

    Is 'friendship' a theme statement? Answer yes or no, and explain.

  2. 12

    What is the difference between a topic and a theme?

★ Challenge corner for fast finishers

Unscramble the letters: IRVER (clue: water that flows to the sea)

How did I do?

Teacher's comments

Free printable worksheets with answer keys · aethelsystems.com/worksheets/english/9/themes

Answer key (click to show)
  1. 1.greed can make you lose what you have
  2. 2.a true friend stands by you in danger
  3. 3.even small friends can help; kindness is repaid
  4. 4.work hard and plan ahead
  5. 5.slow and steady wins the race
  6. 6.people won't believe liars, even when they tell the truth
  7. 7.people grow and change; true worth shows in time
  8. 8.greed can destroy what matters most
  9. 9.hard work and practice pay off
  10. 10.don't judge people before you know them
  11. 11.no — it is a topic; a theme is a full statement such as 'true friends support each other'
  12. 12.a topic is what the story is about; a theme is the message about it
  13. ★river (challenge corner)

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Guides for teaching Theme & Moral

Literary Devices: 20 Examples Every Student Should KnowSimile, metaphor, personification, irony and more — each with a clear definition, an example, and a quick test for telling similar devices apart.Simple, Compound, Complex and Compound-Complex Sentences ExplainedA clear way to tell the four sentence structures apart, with examples and the two-question test students can use on any sentence.

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