Friendship Threads

This short story analysis worksheet is designed for students in Grades 6, 7, and 8 to strengthen comprehension, theme identification, and evidence-based writing. Students read a narrative about a misunderstanding that strains-and ultimately repairs-a friendship, then identify the story’s theme in one clear sentence and support it with textual evidence. The activity also encourages reflection on honesty, communication, and empathy as central ideas.

Learning Goals

• Identifying Theme & Central Message (Grades 6-8)
  Students determine the main lesson the story conveys about friendship and trust.
• Citing Textual Evidence
  Learners support theme statements with specific details from the text.
• Analyzing Character Relationships
  Students examine how misunderstandings and resolution affect relationships.
• Analytical Short Responses
  The task builds concise, well-supported written explanations.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource
  Designed by educators to align with middle school ELA standards.
• Social-Emotional Learning Integration
  Reinforces communication, honesty, and empathy through literature.
• Clear, Focused Writing Practice
  One-sentence theme and evidence-based responses support clarity.
• Flexible Classroom Use
  Ideal for short story units, theme lessons, discussion prep, or assessment.

This printable worksheet gives students meaningful practice with identifying theme, analyzing relationships, and supporting ideas with textual evidence. By exploring how misunderstanding and communication shape friendship in Friendship Threads, learners strengthen reading comprehension, analytical writing, and moral reasoning skills. Suitable for classroom instruction or homeschool use, this no-prep resource supports thoughtful engagement with narrative texts and confident explanation of theme and meaning.

This worksheet is part of our Grade 8 Reading Comprehension collection.