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2nd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 11 of 17

Asking Questions and Finding Facts

Ask good questions, choose texts and learn topic words.

What your child practices

Using what you know, asking basic questions, choosing texts and facts for a purpose, and using topic words.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 2W6; 2W7; 2R1 · asking questions and choosing a text that answers them

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Start with a question, like “What do owls eat?”
  2. Choose a text about your topic, like an information book.
  3. Topic words belong together: planet and star go with space.

Example: Your question is “What do owls eat?” Which fact is most useful? “Owls eat mice.” or “Owls have feathers.” Your question is about food. Only one fact tells what owls eat. Answer: Owls eat mice.

Asking Questions and Finding Facts in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 11 of 17 in 2nd grade English Language Arts, after Text Features and before Media Detectives.

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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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

    You want to learn about snowshoe hares. Which text should you pick?

    • a book about cars
    • a cookbook
    • a book about northern animals

  2. Question 2

    You see a word in bold in a nonfiction book. What might it mean?

    • it is an important word
    • it is a name
    • it is a mistake

  3. Question 3

    What is a topic word for a text about the Prairies?

    • iceberg
    • grain
    • coral

  4. Question 4

    Which words belong with the topic “space”?

    • spoon and fork
    • planet and star
    • desk and chair

  5. Question 5

    Which is a question word?

    • why
    • blue
    • the

  6. Question 6

    After reading, you can share a new word you learned by…

    • using it in a sentence
    • crossing it out
    • hiding it

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