2nd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 3 of 17
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.
New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 2R3; 2R5 · characters, settings and how a story begins, goes on and ends
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 New York
In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 3 of 17 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?
Lena had a loose tooth.
She wiggled it with her tongue all day.
At dinner, the tooth came out in her apple!
Lena put it under her pillow and smiled.
- 🐒a monkey
- 🦷a dentist
- 👧Lena
👧 Lena
Hint: The main character is who the story is mostly about.
Question 2
Where does this story happen? (the setting)
Lena had a loose tooth.
She wiggled it with her tongue all day.
At dinner, the tooth came out in her apple!
Lena put it under her pillow and smiled.
- 🏡at home
- 🌲in a forest
- 🏊at a pool
🏡 at home
Hint: The setting is where a story happens. Look for clues in the first sentence.
Question 3
How did Lena feel at the end?
Lena had a loose tooth.
She wiggled it with her tongue all day.
At dinner, the tooth came out in her apple!
Lena put it under her pillow and smiled.
- 😨scared
- 😊happy
- 😑bored
😊 happy
Hint: The last sentence says Lena smiled.
Question 4
Tap what happened, from the beginning to the end.
Lena had a loose tooth.
She wiggled it with her tongue all day.
At dinner, the tooth came out in her apple!
Lena put it under her pillow and smiled.
- She wiggled it.
- Lena had a loose tooth.
- She put it under her pillow.
- The tooth came out in an apple.
Lena had a loose tooth. → She wiggled it. → The tooth came out in an apple. → She put it under her pillow.
Hint: Read the story again from the top. What happened first?
Question 5
Who is the main character in this story?
Maya's team was playing soccer in the park.
Maya kicked the ball, but it rolled into a puddle.
Her teammate Ravi helped her dry the ball.
They both laughed and kept on playing.
- 🧑⚖️a referee
- 🥅a goalpost
- 👧Maya
👧 Maya
Hint: The main character is who the story is mostly about.
Question 6
Where does this story happen? (the setting)
Maya's team was playing soccer in the park.
Maya kicked the ball, but it rolled into a puddle.
Her teammate Ravi helped her dry the ball.
They both laughed and kept on playing.
- 🌳at the park
- 🍽️at a restaurant
- 🏛️in a museum
🌳 at the park
Hint: The setting is where a story happens. Look for clues in the first sentence.