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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 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 14 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.

What the Author Wanted

RI.2.6

NameDate

Tick the right answer.

1.How can you tell an information text from a story quickly?
  • A.It always has pictures
  • B.It is always shorter
  • C.It gives facts you could check, and has no made-up characters
2.An author writes "Glass is unusual." What are they about to do?
  • A.Give an opinion about bottles
  • B.Explain what makes glass different
  • C.Describe a glass factory worker
3.A text explains the five stages of recycling paper. What is the author's main purpose?
  • A.To make you laugh
  • B.To explain a process
  • C.To sell you paper
4.A text ends "which is why new buildings are made to sway". What is the author doing?
  • A.Telling a joke
  • B.Explaining why something is done
  • C.Describing a building's colour
5.Why would an author give a number like "eighteen hundred litres"?
  • A.To make the fact exact rather than vague
  • B.To fill up space
  • C.Because numbers look important
6.A text describes what a fire engine carries. What is it mainly doing?
  • A.Telling a story
  • B.Describing
  • C.Giving an opinion
7.A text says a polar bear can overheat if it runs too far. Why include that?
  • A.To show just how well insulated it is
  • B.To make the text longer
  • C.To warn you not to run
8.Which title tells you the author will explain a cause?
  • A.Why Tall Buildings Do Not Fall Over
  • B.My Day at the Tower
  • C.The Tall Building Song

LessonPrint · RI.2.6 · Set 14 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What the Author Wanted

Set 14. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.It gives facts you could check, and has no made-up characters
  2. 2.Explain what makes glass different
  3. 3.To explain a process
  4. 4.Explaining why something is done
  5. 5.To make the fact exact rather than vague
  6. 6.Describing
  7. 7.To show just how well insulated it is
  8. 8.Why Tall Buildings Do Not Fall Over

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.

All Grade 2 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.2.6 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.