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2nd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 16 of 17

Main Topic and Reasons

Find the main topic, retell and sum up, and see how authors give reasons.

What your child practices

Your child finds the main topic or central idea of a short text, picks the best retelling or summary, spots the reasons an author gives for a point and makes text-to-self, text-to-text and text-to-world connections.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 2R2; 2R8; 2R9 · main topic, retelling and summarizing, how reasons support an author's point, and making connections

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The main topic is what the text is mostly about.
  2. Authors give reasons to back up their ideas; count them.
  3. When you retell, keep events in the right order.

Example: “Dogs make good pets. They are loyal, and they love to play.” How many reasons does the author give? Reason 1: they are loyal. Reason 2: they love to play. Answer: two

Main Topic and Reasons in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 16 of 17 in 2nd grade English Language Arts, after Listening, Asking and Polite Talk and before Opinions, Stories and Responses.

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

    In a book, a girl is nervous on her first day at camp. Which connection is text-to-self?

    • Many kids go to camps in summer.
    • I felt nervous on my first day of school.
    • The book has 30 pages.
    • Another book has a camp in it.

  2. Question 2

    A story is about a town cleaning up a park. You think of a news report about a beach cleanup. What connection is this?

    • text-to-text
    • text-to-self
    • text-to-world
    • no connection

  3. Question 3

    “Penguins are birds, but they cannot fly. They use their wings to swim fast.” Which detail is key?

    • Wings are soft.
    • Birds sing songs.
    • Penguins live in zoos.
    • Penguins use their wings to swim.

  4. Question 4

    “Bees help flowers. They carry pollen from flower to flower so new seeds can grow.” What point does the author make?

    • Bees are scary.
    • Flowers are pretty.
    • Bees help flowers.
    • Seeds are small.

  5. Question 5

    “Cats make good pets. They are quiet, and they clean themselves.” How many reasons does the author give?

    • three
    • none
    • two
    • one

  6. Question 6

    A book shows a family from another country cooking a holiday meal. Your family cooks for holidays too. What can you say?

    • Families in many places share food on special days.
    • Only my family cooks.
    • The book is wrong.
    • Holidays have no food.

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