CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.2
The Standard
Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literature
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students tell the important events of a story in order, including stories from different cultures. They identify what the story teaches and use events or character choices to support that lesson.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students retell the beginning, middle, and end in a clear order using key events. They state a lesson in their own words and connect it to what a character did or learned.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may retell every detail instead of naming the main events. They may choose a topic, such as kindness, rather than a full lesson, such as kindness can build friendships. Some name a lesson that does not fit the characters’ actions or ending.
How to Assess It
- After a short fable, ask students to write three important events and complete: “The lesson is ___ because ___.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs story event cards to sequence, then have them choose a message card and point to the event that supports it.
Ask, “What did the character learn, and which action or result shows that lesson?” Students discuss, then write two sentences.
Play Moral Match by having teams pair short story summaries with lesson cards and explain each match for a point.
Present a playground problem similar to one in a folktale, then ask students how the story’s lesson could guide their response.
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Printable RL.2.2 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.2, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetLearning progression
Where This Standard Sits
See the whole path on the Reading: Literature progression map.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.9
Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.9
Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, ...
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