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How a Story Opens is a free printable Grade 2 English worksheet on what the beginning of a story sets up, aligned to Common Core standard RL.2.5. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 10 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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

How a Story Opens

RL.2.5

NameDate

Read the story, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Crow and the Pitcher

A crow had flown for hours without finding water. At last she saw a pitcher standing in a garden. She landed on the rim and looked in. There was water at the bottom, but the neck was narrow and her beak could not reach it. She pushed the pitcher. It was too heavy to tip. Then the crow noticed the pebbles on the path. She picked one up and dropped it in. Then another. Then another. Each pebble pushed the water a little higher. After forty pebbles, the water reached the top. The crow drank until she had had enough.

  1. 1. How does the beginning of this story set up the problem?
  2. 2. How does the ending conclude the action?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Bread That Would Not Rise

Nana let Ada make the bread on her own for the first time. Ada measured the flour, the salt and the water. She kneaded the dough until her arms ached. Then she covered the bowl and waited. An hour later the dough sat in the bowl exactly as she had left it. It had not risen at all. Nana looked at the packet on the shelf. "You used the salt twice," she said. "There is no yeast in it." Ada wanted to throw the bowl across the kitchen. Instead she washed it out and started again.

  1. 1. How does the ending conclude the action?
  2. 2. How does the beginning set up the story?

LessonPrint · RL.2.5 · Set 10 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — How a Story Opens

Set 10. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It says the crow had flown for hours without water, so finding the pitcher matters. 2. The water reaches the top and the crow drinks until she has had enough.
  2. 2.1. Ada chooses to start again rather than throw the bowl. 2. It says this was the first time Ada made bread on her own, so a mistake is likely.

More practice for RL.2.5

Describe how a story opens and how it closes.

Teaching this next? How a Story Begins and Ends is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 2 worksheets

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