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Asking Questions About a Story

A 30-minute Kindergarten lesson on answering who, what and where about a story, and on going back to the book to check.

Asking Questions About a Story is a free 30-minute Kindergarten English lesson plan for Common Core standard RL.K.1 — answer questions about what happened in a story you have just heard. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the mathematics, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Kindergarten
Length:
30 minutes
Standard:
RL.K.1

Kindergarten · Reading: Literature

RL.K.1

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Objective

Students will be able to answer a question about a story by pointing to the part that tells them.

Students are successful when they can

  • Answers who, what and where questions about a story just heard.
  • Goes back to the page rather than guessing.
  • Asks a question of their own about the story.

What you need

  • A picture book short enough to read twice
  • Sticky notes for marking pages
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — questions before answers

4 min
  1. Show the cover. Ask the class for three questions they want the book to answer.
  2. Write them on sticky notes and stick them to the board. Do not answer any of them.
“We are not guessing. We are going to read it and find out.”

Teach — go back and check

10 min
  1. Read the book straight through without stopping.
  2. Ask a who question. Take an answer. Then ask 'how do we know?' and turn back to the page.
  3. Do the same with a what and a where question. Every time, turn back.
  4. Ask one question the book does not answer. Let them notice that it does not. That is allowed.
  5. Return to the sticky notes. Which did the book answer?
“Do not tell me what you think. Show me the page.”

Guided practice — you ask, I answer

8 min
  1. Pairs think of one question about the story.
  2. Take five and answer them yourself, turning to the page each time.
  3. If a question cannot be answered from the book, say so and say why.

Independent practice

6 min
  1. Students complete the story questions page. The text is on the sheet.
  2. Read the passage aloud twice before they start.

Close

2 min
  1. Ask one question about the story and take three answers.
  2. Ask each child which page they got it from.

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Answers from their own life rather than from the story.

Why: The question sounds like conversation, and in conversation you answer from experience. Nothing has marked this as a different kind of question.

Fix: Always add 'in the story' to the question, and always ask for the page. The page is what makes it a reading question.

Says 'I don't know' rather than looking.

Why: The child believes the answer has to be remembered, and they cannot remember it.

Fix: Say 'you do not have to know — go and look'. Reread the two pages together the first few times so that looking becomes the reflex.

Answers a different question than the one asked — 'where' answered with 'a dog'.

Why: The question word is the least stressed part of the sentence and is easy to miss.

Fix: Say the question word twice and louder: 'WHERE — where did the dog go?' Then ask them to say the question back before answering it.

If they are not there yet

  • Ask about the page in front of them rather than about the whole book.
  • Offer two answers to choose between, then ask which page proves it.

If they finish early

  • Ask a question whose answer needs two pages put together.
  • Ask them to write a question for a partner to answer.
  • Ask a question the book cannot answer and have them explain why not.

Exit ticket

Where did the story happen? Show me the page that tells us.

What to look for: The page matters more than the answer. A right answer with no page is memory, and memory runs out when the books get longer.

Printable practice for RL.K.1

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about Asking Questions About a Story

How long does the Asking Questions About a Story lesson take?

30 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 4 min, teach 10 min, guided practice 8 min, independent practice 6 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does Asking Questions About a Story teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1 — RL.K.1, Reading: Literature for Kindergarten: “With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.” In plain terms, answer questions about what happened in a story you have just heard.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

A picture book short enough to read twice, sticky notes for marking pages and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: answers from their own life rather than from the story; says 'I don't know' rather than looking and answers a different question than the one asked — 'where' answered with 'a dog'. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “Where did the story happen? Show me the page that tells us.” The page matters more than the answer. A right answer with no page is memory, and memory runs out when the books get longer. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with Asking Questions About a Story?

Yes — 1 printable RL.K.1 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is Asking Questions About a Story free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on 7 September 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-09-07. Aligned to RL.K.1 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.