Browse

Short Stories for 2nd Graders

11 free PDFsUS Letter or A4Answer key includedNo login

Original short stories and fables with questions about characters, problems, lessons and word meanings, each with an answer key.

Download the short stories worksheets

Short stories

Original stories with a clear beginning, middle and end, each followed by six questions about the characters, the problem, word meanings, the order of events and the lesson.

Fables and folktales

Original animal tales that teach a lesson. Read each one and find its message.

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these short stories worksheets

Second graders are ready for real stories: a character with a problem, events that build, and an ending that solves it. Reading whole stories helps children describe how characters respond to challenges, retell the important events in order and work out the lesson a story teaches.

These short stories for 2nd graders are all original. Eight stories are about everyday things children know: building a fort with a friend, a first day at a new school, a lost hamster, a paper airplane contest, a broken mug and a hiking trail. Three fables use animal characters to teach a lesson. Each story is one page, with six questions on the next page and an answer key after that.

Standards

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.10By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

How to use them

  1. Read the story together first, or let a strong reader read alone.
  2. Before the questions, ask your child to tell the story back in three sentences: beginning, middle and end.
  3. Talk about the problem in the story and how the character felt and acted.
  4. For the lesson question, ask: what did the character learn? What could you learn from this story?

Teaching tips

  • Stories run about 240 to 310 words, a good length for second grade reading practice.
  • Every story has an order question, a word meaning question and a question about how a character responds.
  • Fables state or hint at a lesson. Let your child say it in their own words before choosing an answer.
  • Use a story as a model for writing: what would happen next?

Questions teachers and parents ask

How long are these short stories?

Most are about 240 to 310 words, which fits on one printed page for a second grader.

Are the stories original?

Yes. Every story and fable was written for this site and is free to print.

Do the stories have questions and answer keys?

Yes. Each story has six questions on the second page and an answer key on the third page.