Minnesota Grade 2 English

Connect a story’s problem with its resolution

A story’s ending makes more sense when a reader remembers the problem. Read this original scene and trace what the characters do to resolve it.

Curriculum reference: 2020 Minnesota K–12 English Language Arts Standards, February 2024 corrected edition, from the Minnesota Department of Education academic standards directory.

Minnesota Grade 2 references for this activity

Use Minnesota’s 2020 English Language Arts standards, February 2024 corrected edition. The state implementation page identifies full implementation in 2025–26. These selected benchmarks support one activity; use the complete framework and the school’s sequence for curriculum planning.

These selected benchmark labels describe an activity focus. Read the complete state requirements and the school’s sequence, including the framework’s reading, writing, discussion, media-literacy, and Dakota and Anishinaabe perspectives requirements. This original example does not represent those communities or fulfill the entire curriculum.

A worked Grade 2 reading and writing activity

This original classroom example is separate from official assessment questions.

Rafi and June set up a puppet show in the classroom. The dragon puppet was missing. “We cannot tell our story without the dragon,” Rafi said. June checked the costume shelf while Rafi searched the stage. Neither found it. Then June remembered yesterday’s rehearsal. “We left the dragon in the story basket!” They opened the basket and found the puppet beneath a scarf. At the show, June made the dragon bow, and Rafi began the tale.

Try the activity

Name the characters and setting. What problem interrupts their plan? Which event leads to finding the puppet, and how does the ending show that the problem is resolved? Recount the events in order.

Follow the reasoning

Rafi and June are the named characters, and the classroom is the setting. The missing dragon is the conflict because their planned story needs that puppet. Checking the shelf and stage are attempts to solve the problem, but the text says neither search succeeds. June’s memory of the rehearsal changes the search: they look in the story basket and find the dragon. The final sentence shows them using the puppet and beginning the tale, so the resolution allows the original plan to continue. A recount should connect these events rather than list unrelated objects. The basket matters because it contains the missing puppet; the scarf covers it but is not itself the story’s main problem.

Notice what needs more practice

Do not describe Rafi and June as arguing with each other: their difficulty is the missing prop. Remembering the rehearsal leads to a useful action, but memory alone does not establish that the puppet has been found. The search of the basket supplies that result. If a student says the shelf contains the dragon, reread the unsuccessful search. The text does not explain who placed the scarf there, so that detail belongs to an unanswered question rather than a certain account.

Use the next session to build independence

1. Identify the planned activity and the obstacle.
2. Separate unsuccessful attempts from the event that changes the search.
3. Use the ending to explain how the obstacle is resolved.

Make a four-part organizer: plan, problem, attempts, resolution. Add a short detail from the story to each part. Retell the story from those notes without reading the full passage. Next, write a clearly labeled alternative ending in which the basket is empty and the children solve the problem another way. Explain which details are newly invented. Compare the conflict and resolution in a teacher-selected story; some conflicts concern a character’s feelings or a disagreement rather than a missing object.

For more general reading and writing resources, visit the Grade 2 English Online Center.

Minnesota Grade 2 English: useful planning questions

Is every event in a story its resolution?

No. Some events introduce the problem or show attempts that fail. Explain how the event you identify as the resolution addresses the actual conflict.

Where are the complete state requirements?

Use Minnesota’s 2020 English Language Arts standards, February 2024 corrected edition. The state implementation page identifies full implementation in 2025–26. These selected benchmarks support one activity; use the complete framework and the school’s sequence for curriculum planning. The school’s sequence also includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language work beyond this example.