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2nd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 9 of 12

Reading Detectives

Clues, feelings and who is telling it

What your child practices

Reading short texts to work out who is telling the story, what will happen next, how characters feel, and how things are the same and different.

Alaska content standards learning standard: RL.2.6 · comparing characters and noticing who tells the story

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Use clues in the text to figure out why characters do things.
  2. If the story says “I”, a character is telling it. If it says “he” or “she”, someone outside the story is.
  3. Steps to follow use order words like first, next and last.

Example: Lena put bread down, added jam, then put the other slice on top. What did Lena do last? “then” shows what came last. The last step was the other slice. Answer: put the other slice on top

Reading Detectives in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 9 of 12 in 2nd grade English Language Arts, after Word Pictures and before Text Features.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which animal is more likely to get muddy paws?

    Cat and Dog Day

    Jay has a cat named Mochi. Mochi likes to sit by the window and watch birds.

    Ana has a dog named Biscuit. Biscuit likes to dig in the garden.

    Both animals love treats.

    • Biscuit
    • neither
    • Mochi

  2. Question 2

    How are Mochi and Biscuit the same?

    Cat and Dog Day

    Jay has a cat named Mochi. Mochi likes to sit by the window and watch birds.

    Ana has a dog named Biscuit. Biscuit likes to dig in the garden.

    Both animals love treats.

    • Both watch birds.
    • Both dig in the garden.
    • Both love treats.

  3. Question 3

    How are Mochi and Biscuit different?

    Cat and Dog Day

    Jay has a cat named Mochi. Mochi likes to sit by the window and watch birds.

    Ana has a dog named Biscuit. Biscuit likes to dig in the garden.

    Both animals love treats.

    • They do the same things.
    • Mochi digs. Biscuit watches birds.
    • Mochi watches birds. Biscuit digs.

  4. Question 4

    How did the child feel at the start?

    Thunder Night

    I pulled the blanket up to my nose. Thunder rumbled outside my window.

    Then I heard a soft scratch. My cat Pip jumped onto the bed and curled up beside me.

    Soon, my heart felt calm and my eyes grew heavy.

    • excited
    • bored
    • scared

  5. Question 5

    What will the child most likely do next?

    Thunder Night

    I pulled the blanket up to my nose. Thunder rumbled outside my window.

    Then I heard a soft scratch. My cat Pip jumped onto the bed and curled up beside me.

    Soon, my heart felt calm and my eyes grew heavy.

    • go outside
    • fall asleep
    • start a game

  6. Question 6

    Who is telling the story?

    Thunder Night

    I pulled the blanket up to my nose. Thunder rumbled outside my window.

    Then I heard a soft scratch. My cat Pip jumped onto the bed and curled up beside me.

    Soon, my heart felt calm and my eyes grew heavy.

    • the child, using I
    • an outside narrator
    • Pip the cat

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