Why Does the Author Say That? is a free printable Grade 2 English worksheet on explaining how a reason supports a claim, aligned to Common Core standard RI.2.8. 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 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
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.
Why Does the Author Say That?
RI.2.8
NameDate
Read the text, then answer the questions.
1.Read the text, then answer the questions.
Launching a Lifeboat
When a boat is in trouble, a call goes out to the lifeboat station.
Pagers sound. The crew are volunteers, so they stop whatever they are doing and drive to the station. Most arrive within six minutes.
They pull on drysuits and lifejackets and climb aboard. The boat slides down a ramp into the sea and the engines start.
At sea, the crew look for a flare, a light, or a shape in the water. Once they find the boat, they take the people off first and the boat second.
A lifeboat can right itself if a wave rolls it over.
1. What does the author want to explain?
2. How are the pagers connected to the launch?
3. Why do the crew take the people off first?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.
How Glass Is Recycled
Glass is unusual. It can be melted and remade for ever without getting any worse.
Bottles are first sorted by colour. Clear, green and brown glass have to be kept apart, because you cannot make clear glass from green.
The glass is then crushed into small pieces called cullet. Metal lids are pulled out with a magnet.
Cullet melts at a lower temperature than the raw materials glass is made from. That means recycling glass uses less energy than making it new.
The melted glass is poured into moulds and blown into new bottles.
1. What does the author want to explain?
2. Why are the colours kept apart?
3. How is cullet connected to using less energy?
LessonPrint · RI.2.8 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Why Does the Author Say That?
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. What happens, step by step, when a lifeboat is called out. 2. The pagers tell the volunteer crew to come, so the boat can be launched. 3. Because saving people matters more than saving the boat.
2.1. How glass is recycled and why it can be recycled for ever. 2. Because you cannot make clear glass from green glass. 3. Cullet melts at a lower temperature than the raw materials, so less energy is needed.
Questions about Why Does the Author Say That?
What does the Why Does the Author Say That? worksheet cover?
It practises explaining how a reason supports a claim — 2 questions for Grade 2, all on Common Core RI.2.8: Match each reason the author gives to the point it supports. The instruction to pupils is “Read the text, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which Common Core standard does Why Does the Author Say That? practise?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.8 — RI.2.8, in the Reading: Informational Text domain for Grade 2. The published standard reads: “Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Why Does the Author Say That? is written for Grade 2, typically ages 7-8. It is one of the sheets on RI.2.8, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Why Does the Author Say That? come with an answer key?
Yes. All 2 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 Why Does the Author Say That? can I print?
25 versions, of which 24 ask genuinely different questions — this skill does not have 25 distinct questions to give, so the rest reorder them and no two pupils still share a paper. Set 1 downloads all 25 as one PDF.
Is Why Does the Author Say That? free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Why Does the Author Say That?, 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.
More practice for RI.2.8
Match each reason the author gives to the point it supports.