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Two Versions of One Story is a free printable Grade 2 English worksheet on comparing two tellings of a similar tale, aligned to Common Core standard RL.2.9. 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 15 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.

Two Versions of One Story

RL.2.9

NameDate

Read Text 1 and answer the question under it.

1.Read Text 1 and answer the question under it.

Text 1: The New Boy

A new boy called Iosif joined the class in November. He did not speak much English yet. At playtime he stood by the wall. Some children waved. He looked away. Marta noticed he was watching the football. She rolled the ball to him. He stopped it neatly and rolled it back. They passed it for ten minutes without saying a word. When the bell went, Iosif said one word: "Tomorrow?" "Tomorrow," said Marta.

  1. 1. What one word did Iosif say?
2.Now read Text 2 and answer these questions about BOTH texts.

Text 2: 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. 1. How is Marta like the mouse in the fable?
  2. 2. How is this story different from the fable of the lion?
  3. 3. How is this story different from "The New Boy"?

LessonPrint · RL.2.9 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Two Versions of One Story

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. "Tomorrow?"
  2. 2.1. Both do something small that turns out to matter a lot. 2. This one is about real children at school; the fable is about animals and states a moral. 3. This one is about Tess leaving the starfish in the pool; that one is about Iosif joining in with the football.

More practice for RL.2.9

Compare two tellings of the same tale and say what each changed.

Teaching this next? Two Versions of the Same Story is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 2 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.2.9 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.