Pennsylvania Grade 2 English

Explain a Story’s Beginning and Ending

Learn to explain a story’s beginning and ending with an original Grade 2 reading example, a worked explanation, Pennsylvania English references, and printable resources. Use the teacher’s reading and writing assignments to build this skill across longer texts.

Curriculum reference: Pennsylvania Core Standards for English Language Arts, March 1, 2014, from the Pennsylvania English language arts standards page.

Pennsylvania Grade 2 references for this activity

Pennsylvania’s education department links the March 1, 2014 PA Core English documents for Pre K–5 and Grades 6–12. The state board identifies March 1, 2014 as the effective date. The code linked here is a selected Pennsylvania reading reference, not a generic Common Core label. Standards guide locally developed curricula; check the school’s reading, writing, language, speaking, and listening sequence.

These selected reference labels identify an activity focus, with the correct grade and PDF page linked separately. Read the complete standards selected by the school and its learning sequence, including reading, writing, language, speaking, and listening. This short original example does not fulfill the entire curriculum or establish a student’s grade-level proficiency.

The runaway drawing

This original classroom example is separate from official assessment questions.

Tomas clipped his drawing to the classroom display. A breeze through the open window lifted one corner, and the drawing slid to the floor. Tomas picked it up and asked the teacher for another clip. He fastened both corners. When the breeze returned, the drawing stayed on the display.

Try the activity

Explain what the beginning introduces and how the ending concludes the action. What happens between them? Why is “Tomas picked it up” an important middle event rather than the ending?

Follow the reasoning

The beginning introduces Tomas, the classroom display, and his drawing. The breeze creates a problem: one clip does not hold the drawing in place. In the middle, Tomas retrieves it and gets another clip. The ending shows the result when the breeze returns: fastening both corners keeps the drawing on the display. Picking it up matters because Tomas needs the drawing before he can fix the problem, but that action alone does not show whether it will stay up. The final sentence answers the problem established earlier and concludes this short story.

Notice what needs more practice

The ending resolves this incident, not every future problem with the display. The passage does not say whether classmates liked the drawing. Retell the important sequence without replacing the ending with an imagined celebration.

Use the next session to build independence

1. Name the person, place, and starting action.
2. Trace the problem and the response.
3. Explain which final detail concludes this incident.

Describe the beginning and ending of a complete teacher-selected story. Explain how events in the middle connect them, using actual details rather than a list of isolated sentences.

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

Pennsylvania Grade 2 English: useful planning questions

Is the last action always the solution?

Read what the ending shows. It may resolve the problem, leave it open, or show a change. Explain the conclusion supported by that particular story.

Which standards does the school use?

Pennsylvania’s education department links the March 1, 2014 PA Core English documents for Pre K–5 and Grades 6–12. The state board identifies March 1, 2014 as the effective date. The code linked here is a selected Pennsylvania reading reference, not a generic Common Core label. Standards guide locally developed curricula; check the school’s reading, writing, language, speaking, and listening sequence. The school’s sequence also includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language work beyond this example.