What the Author Wanted is a free printable Grade 2 English worksheet on identifying the main purpose of an information text, aligned to Common Core standard RI.2.6. It prints 8 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 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
1.How can you tell an information text from a story quickly?
A.It gives facts you could check, and has no made-up characters
B.It is always shorter
C.It always has pictures
2.Why would an author give a number like "eighteen hundred liters"?
A.Because numbers look important
B.To fill up space
C.To make the fact exact rather than vague
3.What does an author of an information text mainly want to do?
A.Answer, explain or describe something
B.Rhyme every line
C.Entertain you with characters
4.Which title tells you the author will explain a cause?
A.My Day at the Tower
B.The Tall Building Song
C.Why Tall Buildings Do Not Fall Over
5.A text describes what a fire engine carries. What is it mainly doing?
A.Telling a story
B.Giving an opinion
C.Describing
6.A text ends "which is why new buildings are made to sway." What is the author doing?
A.Describing a building's color
B.Explaining why something is done
C.Telling a joke
7.A text explains the five stages of recycling paper. What is the author's main purpose?
A.To make you laugh
B.To sell you paper
C.To explain a process
8.An author writes "Glass is unusual." What are they about to do?
A.Describe a glass factory worker
B.Explain what makes glass different
C.Give an opinion about bottles
LessonPrint · RI.2.6 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — What the Author Wanted
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.It gives facts you could check, and has no made-up characters
2.To make the fact exact rather than vague
3.Answer, explain or describe something
4.Why Tall Buildings Do Not Fall Over
5.Describing
6.Explaining why something is done
7.To explain a process
8.Explain what makes glass different
Questions about What the Author Wanted
What does the What the Author Wanted worksheet cover?
It practices identifying the main purpose of an information text — 8 questions for Grade 2, all on Common Core RI.2.6: Say why the author wrote it and what they wanted to explain. The instruction to students is “Circle the right answer”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which Common Core standard does What the Author Wanted practice?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.6 — RI.2.6, under Reading: Informational Text for Grade 2. The published standard reads: “Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
What the Author Wanted is written for Grade 2, typically ages 7-8. It is one of the sheets on RI.2.6, so it suits any student working at that standard — including older students revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does What the Author Wanted come with an answer key?
Yes. All 8 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of What the Author Wanted can I print?
25 — one per student, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.
Is What the Author Wanted free to print and photocopy?
Yes. What the Author Wanted, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
Is there a lesson plan to teach RI.2.6?
Yes — “What the Author Wanted to Do” is a 40-minute Grade 2 plan for RI.2.6, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. What the Author Wanted is the practice that follows it.
More practice for RI.2.6
Say why the author wrote it and what they wanted to explain.
Teaching this next? What the Author Wanted to Do is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.