Skip to content
LessonPrint

What the Challenge Was is a free printable Grade 2 English worksheet on linking a character's action to the problem they faced, aligned to Common Core standard RL.2.3. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 24 of them with 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.

Next set

One paper per pupil

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425

Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. 24 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two pupils have the same paper in front of them.

What the Challenge Was

RL.2.3

NameDate

Read the story, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

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. How does Iosif respond at first when children wave?
  2. 2. Why did passing the ball work when waving did not?
  3. 3. What does Marta do that the others do not?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

Fog Morning

The hill has gone. The wood has gone. The postbox stands in a cloud, alone. No sheep, no gate, no crooked tree — only the ten short steps I see. I walk. The ten steps walk with me. The gate appears. And then the tree. The hill comes back. The wood comes back. The fog rolls off along the track.

  1. 1. What is the speaker doing in this poem?
  2. 2. Is the speaker lost? How do you know?

LessonPrint · RL.2.3 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What the Challenge Was

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. He looks away. 2. Passing needed no words, so Iosif could join in without speaking English. 3. She rolls him the ball instead of waving.
  2. 2.1. Walking along a track in thick fog. 2. No — they keep walking and the gate and tree appear where they should.

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.2.3 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.