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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 24 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.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
2.Why would an author give a number like "eighteen hundred litres"?
  • A.To fill up space
  • B.Because numbers look important
  • C.To make the fact exact rather than vague
3.How can you tell an information text from a story quickly?
  • A.It is always shorter
  • B.It always has pictures
  • C.It gives facts you could check, and has no made-up characters
4.A text describes what a fire engine carries. What is it mainly doing?
  • A.Giving an opinion
  • B.Describing
  • C.Telling a story
5.Which title tells you the author will explain a cause?
  • A.The Tall Building Song
  • B.Why Tall Buildings Do Not Fall Over
  • C.My Day at the Tower
6.A text is titled "How a Camel Survives". What question does it answer?
  • A.Who owns the camel?
  • B.How does a camel survive in a desert?
  • C.Where can I buy a camel?
7.A text says a polar bear can overheat if it runs too far. Why include that?
  • A.To make the text longer
  • B.To show just how well insulated it is
  • C.To warn you not to run
8.What does an author of an information text mainly want to do?
  • A.Rhyme every line
  • B.Answer, explain or describe something
  • C.Entertain you with characters

LessonPrint · RI.2.6 · Set 24 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What the Author Wanted

Set 24. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.To explain a process
  2. 2.To make the fact exact rather than vague
  3. 3.It gives facts you could check, and has no made-up characters
  4. 4.Describing
  5. 5.Why Tall Buildings Do Not Fall Over
  6. 6.How does a camel survive in a desert?
  7. 7.To show just how well insulated it is
  8. 8.Answer, explain or describe something

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.