Beginnings and Endings is a free printable Grade 2 English worksheet on sorting lines into those that open a tale and those that close it, aligned to Common Core standard RL.2.5. It prints 3 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 21 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

One paper per student

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Beginnings and Endings

RL.2.5

NameDate

Sort each line into the right column.

1.Sort each one: Begins a tale or Ends a tale?

Sort: One cold morning, a little goat set out over the hill., From then on, the village was a happy place., And that is why the goat always looks before he leaps., And they lived happily ever after., Many years ago, a king had three daughters., Once upon a time, there lived a poor miller.

Begins a taleEnds a tale

2.Sort each one: Begins a tale or Ends a tale?

Sort: And the farmer and his family ate turnip soup for a year., Once there was a boy who had never seen the sea., The old woman and her cat never went hungry again., The bear curled up and slept all winter long. The end., In a cottage by the woods lived an old woman and her cat., Long, long ago, the animals could all talk.

Begins a taleEnds a tale

3.Sort each one: Begins a tale or Ends a tale?

Sort: Deep in the forest lived a bear who could not sleep., There was once a farmer who grew the biggest turnip ever., At last the boy was home, and he slept soundly., From that day on, the fox never tricked anyone again., Long ago, in a land far away, there was a tiny village., And so the animals learned to share, and the story ends.

Begins a taleEnds a tale

LessonPrint · RL.2.5 · Set 21 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Beginnings and Endings

Set 21. Prints on its own sheet.

1.1. And that is why the goat always looks before he leaps. — Ends a tale 2. And they lived happily ever after. — Ends a tale 3. From then on, the village was a happy place. — Ends a tale 4. Many years ago, a king had three daughters. — Begins a tale 5. Once upon a time, there lived a poor miller. — Begins a tale 6. One cold morning, a little goat set out over the hill. — Begins a tale
2.1. And the farmer and his family ate turnip soup for a year. — Ends a tale 2. In a cottage by the woods lived an old woman and her cat. — Begins a tale 3. Long, long ago, the animals could all talk. — Begins a tale 4. Once there was a boy who had never seen the sea. — Begins a tale 5. The bear curled up and slept all winter long. The end. — Ends a tale 6. The old woman and her cat never went hungry again. — Ends a tale
3.1. And so the animals learned to share, and the story ends. — Ends a tale 2. At last the boy was home, and he slept soundly. — Ends a tale 3. Deep in the forest lived a bear who could not sleep. — Begins a tale 4. From that day on, the fox never tricked anyone again. — Ends a tale 5. Long ago, in a land far away, there was a tiny village. — Begins a tale 6. There was once a farmer who grew the biggest turnip ever. — Begins a tale

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.2.5 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.