Reading a Grade 2 Story is a free printable Grade 2 English worksheet on reading a whole Grade 2 story and answering across it, aligned to Common Core standard RL.2.10. 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 17 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

One paper per pupil

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.

Reading a Grade 2 Story

RL.2.10

NameDate

Read the story, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

What the Tide Left

Every low tide, Grandad and Tess walked out to the rock pools. Tess wanted to take a starfish home. Grandad said no. "It would die in a bucket," he said. "Look at it here instead." Tess crouched for a long time. She saw the starfish move — slowly, on hundreds of tiny feet she had not known it had. She did not ask again. On the way back she said, "It's better in the pool anyway."

1. When did Grandad and Tess walk out to the rock pools?
2. How does the ending conclude the action?
3. What did Tess see the starfish do?
4. What does this story show about wild creatures?

2.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. Why could the crow not reach the water at first?
2. What did the crow find in the garden?
3. How does the ending conclude the action?
4. How does the beginning of this story set up the problem?

LessonPrint · RL.2.10 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Reading a Grade 2 Story

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

1.1. Every low tide. 2. Tess says the starfish is better in the pool, so she has changed her own mind. 3. Move slowly on hundreds of tiny feet. 4. Something is often better watched where it lives than taken away.
2.1. The neck of the pitcher was narrow and her beak could not reach. 2. A pitcher with water at the bottom. 3. The water reaches the top and the crow drinks until she has had enough. 4. It says the crow had flown for hours without water, so finding the pitcher matters.

More practice for RL.2.10

Read and understand stories and poems at the Grade 2-3 level by the year's end.

Teaching this next? Reading Grade 2 Stories and Poetry is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 2 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.2.10 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.