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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 8 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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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 Crow and the Pitcher

A crow had flown for hours without finding water. At last she saw a pitcher standing in a garden. She landed on the rim and looked in. There was water at the bottom, but the neck was narrow and her beak could not reach it. She pushed the pitcher. It was too heavy to tip. Then the crow noticed the pebbles on the path. She picked one up and dropped it in. Then another. Then another. Each pebble pushed the water a little higher. After forty pebbles, the water reached the top. The crow drank until she had had enough.

  1. 1. Why did each pebble make the water rise?
  2. 2. How does the crow respond to the problem of the narrow neck?
  3. 3. What does dropping forty pebbles tell you about the crow?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Lion and the Mouse

A lion lay sleeping in the sun. A mouse ran across his paw and woke him. The lion caught the mouse in one hand. "Please let me go," said the mouse. "One day I may help you." The lion laughed. How could a mouse help a lion? But he opened his hand. Weeks later the lion walked into a hunter's net. He roared and pulled, and the ropes only tightened. The mouse heard him. She came at once and gnawed the ropes, one strand at a time, until the lion could step free.

  1. 1. Why did the lion open his hand?
  2. 2. What does the mouse do that shows what she is like?
  3. 3. How does the lion respond when the mouse asks to be let go?

LessonPrint · RL.2.3 · Set 8 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What the Challenge Was

Set 8. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The pebbles took up room at the bottom, pushing the water up the narrow neck. 2. She does not give up — she tries pushing it, then drops in pebbles one at a time. 3. She is patient — she kept dropping pebbles even though each one raised the water only a little.
  2. 2.1. The story does not say, but he had laughed at the mouse and let her go anyway. 2. She keeps her promise and comes at once to help. 3. He laughs at the idea, but he opens his hand anyway.

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