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How Characters Respond to Challenges

A 40-minute Grade 2 lesson on describing how characters respond to major events and challenges in a story.

How Characters Respond to Challenges is a free 40-minute Grade 2 English lesson plan for Common Core standard RL.2.3 — say how a character reacted when something happened to them. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the meaning, 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:
Grade 2
Length:
40 minutes
Standard:
RL.2.3

Grade 2 · Reading: Literature

RL.2.3

Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

Objective

Students will be able to describe how a character responds to a challenge — what they feel, say and do — and use evidence from the story.

Students are successful when they can

  • Names the challenge the character faces: "Ada's bread did not rise."
  • Describes the character's response with a feeling and an action: "She was cross, then she tried again."
  • Finds the words in the story that show the response.
  • Explains how the response changes what happens next.

What you need

  • The story "Ada's Bread" on chart paper (in the Teach section)
  • A three-column chart: Challenge / Feels / Does
  • Feelings word bank: cross, worried, disappointed, determined, proud
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — what would you do?

5 min
  1. Say: "You built a tall tower of blocks and it fell down." Ask: "How would you feel? What would you do?"
  2. Collect answers: cross, sad, kick it, build it again, ask for help.
  3. Say that different people respond in different ways. In stories, how a character responds tells us who they are.

Teach — challenge, feels, does

13 min
  1. Read: "Ada's Bread. Ada wanted to bake bread for Nana's birthday. She mixed the flour, water and salt, and put the dough in the oven. When she opened the door, the bread was flat and hard. Ada stamped her foot. 'It's ruined!' she shouted. Nana looked at the recipe. 'You forgot the yeast,' she said kindly. Ada took a deep breath. She started again, and this time she added the yeast. The new loaf rose high and golden. Ada smiled all the way to the table."
  2. Ask: "What was Ada's challenge?" (Her bread came out flat and hard.) Write it in the Challenge column.
  3. Ask: "How did she feel at first? How do we know?" (Cross — she stamped her foot and shouted "It's ruined!") Write "cross" and the evidence.
  4. Ask: "What did she do next?" (Took a deep breath and started again.) Write it under Does.
  5. Ask: "How did her feelings change?" (From cross to proud — she smiled all the way to the table.) Point out that a response can change during a story.
  6. Ask: "What would have happened if Ada had given up?" Fish for "Nana would have no bread." The response shapes the story.
“To describe a response, say what the character felt, then what they did. Then show me the words that tell you.”

Guided practice — the new boy

12 min
  1. Pairs read: "On his first day, Iosif did not know anyone. At recess, he stood by the wall with his hands in his pockets. Nell walked over and asked if he wanted to play tag. Iosif shook his head. The next day, Nell asked again. This time Iosif nodded, and soon he was running and laughing."
  2. Pairs fill a Challenge / Feels / Does chart for Iosif, with evidence words: "hands in his pockets," "shook his head," "running and laughing."
  3. Ask: "The story never says 'Iosif was shy.' How do we know?" Fish for "he stood by the wall and said no."
  4. Share: how did Iosif's response change, and what changed it? (Nell asked again.)
“Look at what the character does. Actions often tell us feelings the story does not name.”

Independent practice

8 min
  1. Students complete the printable. One sheet asks how a character reacts to what happens; the other asks them to link a character's action to the problem they faced.
  2. Remind them to use a feelings word from the bank and then the evidence.

Close

2 min
  1. Ask: "Which word best describes Ada at the end — determined or disappointed? Why?"

What goes wrong, and why

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

Describes the event, not the response: "Ada's bread was flat."

Why: The challenge is the most noticeable part of the story, and they have not yet separated what happened from how the character reacted.

Fix: Point to the columns: that goes under Challenge. Ask: "And what did Ada feel? What did she do?" Fill the other two columns.

Only uses "happy" and "sad": "Iosif was sad and then happy."

Why: These are their most familiar feeling words, and they feel accurate enough.

Fix: Use the word bank and ask for a more exact word: "Was he sad, or nervous?" Check the evidence: hands in pockets suggests nervous.

Says "Iosif was rude" because he said no to Nell.

Why: They judge the action from their own rule (saying no is rude) without reading the clues about how the character felt.

Fix: Ask: "What else did he do? Where was he standing?" Read the clues together and ask why a new boy might say no.

If they are not there yet

  • Give two feelings to choose from for each character, with a picture of each face.
  • Read the story aloud and pause at each action to ask "How is she feeling now?"
  • Fill only the Feels column; the Challenge and Does columns are given.

If they finish early

  • Compare how Ada and Iosif respond to their challenges and say which response is braver and why.
  • Rewrite the ending of "Ada's Bread" with a different response, and explain how the story changes.
  • Find a character in a class book who responds badly at first and well later, and describe the change.

Exit ticket

Read: "Tom's kite got stuck in a tree. He sat down and folded his arms. Then he fetched a broom and poked it free." How did Tom respond? Use story words.

What to look for: Feeling and action with evidence: "At first he was cross — he folded his arms — then he fetched a broom." Only "his kite got stuck": describing the challenge. "He was happy": no evidence from the words. Only the action: needs the Feels column again.

Printable practice for RL.2.3

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

Questions about How Characters Respond to Challenges

How long does the How Characters Respond to Challenges lesson take?

40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 13 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 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 How Characters Respond to Challenges teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3 — RL.2.3, Reading: Literature for Grade 2: “Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.” In plain terms, say how a character reacted when something happened to them.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

The story "Ada's Bread" on chart paper (in the Teach section), a three-column chart: Challenge / Feels / Does, feelings word bank: cross, worried, disappointed, determined, proud 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: describes the event, not the response: "Ada's bread was flat."; only uses "happy" and "sad": "Iosif was sad and then happy." and says "Iosif was rude" because he said no to Nell. 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: “Read: "Tom's kite got stuck in a tree. He sat down and folded his arms. Then he fetched a broom and poked it free." How did Tom respond? Use story words.” Feeling and action with evidence: "At first he was cross — he folded his arms — then he fetched a broom." Only "his kite got stuck": describing the challenge. "He was happy": no evidence from the words. Only the action: needs the Feels column again. 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 How Characters Respond to Challenges?

Yes — 1 printable RL.2.3 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 How Characters Respond to Challenges 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 October 8, 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-10-08. Aligned to RL.2.3 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.