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2nd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 9 of 17

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.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 2R3; 2R6 · 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 New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 9 of 17 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: 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

    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.

    • fall asleep
    • go outside
    • start a game

  2. Question 2

    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.

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

  3. Question 3

    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

  4. Question 4

    What kind of text is this?

    Planting Day

    First, Kenji dug a small hole. Next, he put the seed inside.

    Then he covered it with soil and gave it water.

    Finally, he put a sign in the ground.

    • a made-up fairy tale
    • a poem
    • steps to follow in order

  5. Question 5

    What did Kenji do right after he dug the hole?

    Planting Day

    First, Kenji dug a small hole. Next, he put the seed inside.

    Then he covered it with soil and gave it water.

    Finally, he put a sign in the ground.

    • made a sign
    • watered it
    • put in the seed

  6. Question 6

    What did Kenji do last?

    Planting Day

    First, Kenji dug a small hole. Next, he put the seed inside.

    Then he covered it with soil and gave it water.

    Finally, he put a sign in the ground.

    • covered the seed
    • put a sign in the ground
    • dug a hole

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