2nd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 3 of 12
Story Builders
Characters, settings and order
What your child practices
Reading short stories, then naming the character and setting, explaining why things happened, and retelling events in order.
Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 2.1.4.3 · the characters, setting, conflict, resolution and events of a story
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- The main character is who the story is mostly about.
- The setting is where and when the story happens.
- Events happen in order: beginning, middle and end.
Example: Jay forgot his lunch at school. His teacher shared her apple. Where does this story happen? Look for place words. The story happens at school. Answer: at school
Story Builders in Minnesota
In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 3 of 12 in 2nd grade English Language Arts, after Sound Detectives and before Word Power.
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.
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Who is the main character in this story?
A bear cub named Juniper woke up from a long winter sleep.
Juniper was very hungry.
Juniper found berries and fish near the river.
Soon the little cub felt strong again.
- 🧑a hunter
- 🐟a fish
- 🐻Juniper the bear cub
🐻 Juniper the bear cub
Hint: The main character is who the story is mostly about.
Question 2
Where does this story happen? (the setting)
A bear cub named Juniper woke up from a long winter sleep.
Juniper was very hungry.
Juniper found berries and fish near the river.
Soon the little cub felt strong again.
- 🏙️in a big city
- 🌲near a river in the forest
- ✈️at an airport
🌲 near a river in the forest
Hint: The setting is where a story happens. Look for clues in the first sentence.
Question 3
Why did Juniper look for food?
A bear cub named Juniper woke up from a long winter sleep.
Juniper was very hungry.
Juniper found berries and fish near the river.
Soon the little cub felt strong again.
- 🎮Juniper was playing a game
- 🍓Juniper was hungry
- 🏫Juniper wanted to go to school
🍓 Juniper was hungry
Hint: The second sentence says how Juniper felt.
Question 4
Tap what happened, from the beginning to the end.
A bear cub named Juniper woke up from a long winter sleep.
Juniper was very hungry.
Juniper found berries and fish near the river.
Soon the little cub felt strong again.
- Juniper felt strong.
- Juniper found berries and fish.
- Juniper woke up.
- Juniper felt hungry.
Juniper woke up. → Juniper felt hungry. → Juniper found berries and fish. → Juniper felt strong.
Hint: Read the story again from the top. What happened first?
Question 5
Who is the main character in this story?
Ollie the otter lost a shiny shell at the beach.
Ollie looked under every rock.
A little crab found the shell and gave it back.
Ollie said thank you and shared a snack with the crab.
- 🦦Ollie the otter
- 🐻a bear
- 🐳a whale
🦦 Ollie the otter
Hint: The main character is who the story is mostly about.
Question 6
Where does this story happen? (the setting)
Ollie the otter lost a shiny shell at the beach.
Ollie looked under every rock.
A little crab found the shell and gave it back.
Ollie said thank you and shared a snack with the crab.
- 🏖️at the beach
- 🏫at school
- 🚀in space
🏖️ at the beach
Hint: The setting is where a story happens. Look for clues in the first sentence.