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Six Questions About a Text

A 40-minute Grade 2 lesson on answering who, what, where, when, why and how questions about an information text.

Six Questions About a Text is a free 40-minute Grade 2 English lesson plan for Common Core standard RI.2.1 — answer who, what, where, when, why and how questions about an information text. 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:
RI.2.1

Grade 2 · Reading: Informational Text

RI.2.1

Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

Objective

Students will be able to answer who, what, where, when, why and how questions about an information text and point to the sentence that gives each answer.

Students are successful when they can

  • Knows what kind of answer each question word wants: who = a person or animal, where = a place, when = a time.
  • Answers each question with a detail from the text, not from memory.
  • Points to or underlines the sentence that proves the answer.
  • Asks one question of their own about the text using a question word.

What you need

  • The text "The Lifeboat Crew" on chart paper (in the Teach section)
  • Six question-word cards: who, what, where, when, why, how
  • Highlighters, one per pair
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — what kind of answer?

5 min
  1. Hold up each question-word card and ask what kind of answer it wants. Who: a person or animal. What: a thing or action. Where: a place. When: a time. Why: a reason. How: the way something is done.
  2. Play quick-fire: "Where do you sleep?" (in my bed) "When do you eat lunch?" (at twelve) "Why do we wear coats?" (to keep warm).
  3. Ask: "If I ask WHERE and you answer 'on Tuesday,' what went wrong?" Fish for "that is a when answer."
“The question word tells you what kind of answer to look for. Read the question word first.”

Teach — answer and prove it

13 min
  1. Read the text aloud: "The Lifeboat Crew. In a small town by the sea, there is a lifeboat station. The crew are volunteers, which means they are not paid. When someone is in danger at sea, the crew's pagers beep, even in the middle of the night. They run to the station and put on drysuits to keep dry and warm. Then they launch the boat down a ramp into the waves. They do this because every minute matters when someone is in the water."
  2. Ask: "Who are the crew?" Answer: volunteers who are not paid. Underline "The crew are volunteers, which means they are not paid."
  3. Ask: "Where is the lifeboat station?" (In a small town by the sea.) "When do the pagers beep?" (When someone is in danger, even at night.) Underline each proof sentence in a different color.
  4. Ask: "Why do they wear drysuits?" (To keep dry and warm.) Point to the little word "to" that signals the reason.
  5. Ask: "Why do they hurry?" Find the "because" sentence: "every minute matters when someone is in the water."
  6. Ask: "How do they launch the boat?" (Down a ramp into the waves.) Point out "how" answers describe the way something happens.
“Answer it, then prove it. Put your finger on the sentence that told you.”

Guided practice — question and prove

12 min
  1. Give pairs a second short text: "Camels live in hot deserts. They have wide, flat feet so they do not sink in the sand. In the daytime it is very hot, but at night it gets cold. Camels have thick fur, which keeps them warm at night and shades them in the day."
  2. Pairs answer: "Where do camels live?" "Why do camels have wide feet?" "When does the desert get cold?" "How does the fur help?" For each, they highlight the proof sentence.
  3. Each pair writes one question of their own with a question word and swaps with another pair.
  4. Check one tricky one together: "Why do camels have wide feet?" The answer is the part after "so": so they do not sink in the sand.
“Before you answer, read the question word aloud. Is it asking for a place, a time or a reason?”

Independent practice

8 min
  1. Students complete the printable. One sheet gives an information text with questions about the facts; the other asks them to answer with reasons and to point to the sentence that gives the answer.
  2. Remind them to underline the proof sentence for each answer before writing it.

Close

2 min
  1. Ask: "Why are the lifeboat crew special?" Take one answer and ask the child to read out the proof sentence.

What goes wrong, and why

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

Answers a "where" question with a time: "Where is the station?" "At night."

Why: They read the question for its topic (the station) and skip the question word, so any fact about the station feels like an answer.

Fix: Make them say the question word aloud and name the answer type before reading: "Where... a place." Then look for a place word in the text.

Answers from memory: "The crew get paid lots of money because they are heroes."

Why: They have prior knowledge about rescuers and trust it over the text, especially when the text is read once.

Fix: Ask "Show me where it says that." When they cannot, reread the proof sentence: "they are not paid." Praise changing an answer because of the text.

Copies the whole paragraph as the answer to a "why" question.

Why: They know the answer is somewhere in there and copying everything feels safe.

Fix: Teach the reason signals "because," "so" and "to," and ask them to copy only the words after the signal word.

If they are not there yet

  • Use three question words only (who, where, when) with answer-type picture cards.
  • Highlight the sentence that holds each answer before the child reads the question.
  • Read the text aloud twice and let the child answer orally before writing.

If they finish early

  • Write a "why" and a "how" question whose answers need two sentences from the text joined together.
  • Find a question the text cannot answer, such as "How many people are in the crew?", and say where you might find out.
  • Rewrite one answer as a full sentence that includes the proof in parentheses.

Exit ticket

Read: "Polar bears live in the Arctic. They have black skin to soak up heat from the sun." Answer: Where do polar bears live? Why is their skin black?

What to look for: "In the Arctic" and "to soak up heat from the sun." Where right but why wrong: reason signals like "to" need teaching. "Because they are bears": answering from a guess, not the text. Mixing the answers up: they skipped the question words.

Printable practice for RI.2.1

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

Questions about Six Questions About a Text

How long does the Six Questions About a Text 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 Six Questions About a Text teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1 — RI.2.1, Reading: Informational Text for Grade 2: “Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.” In plain terms, answer who, what, where, when, why and how questions about an information text.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

The text "The Lifeboat Crew" on chart paper (in the Teach section), six question-word cards: who, what, where, when, why, how, highlighters, one per pair 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 a "where" question with a time: "Where is the station?" "At night."; answers from memory: "The crew get paid lots of money because they are heroes." and copies the whole paragraph as the answer to a "why" question. 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: "Polar bears live in the Arctic. They have black skin to soak up heat from the sun." Answer: Where do polar bears live? Why is their skin black?.” "In the Arctic" and "to soak up heat from the sun." Where right but why wrong: reason signals like "to" need teaching. "Because they are bears": answering from a guess, not the text. Mixing the answers up: they skipped the question words. 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 Six Questions About a Text?

Yes — 1 printable RI.2.1 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 Six Questions About a Text 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 RI.2.1 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.