South Dakota ELA 2.RL.2
The Standard
Retell stories, those from various cultures and genres, and determine their central message/theme, lesson, or moral.
South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students retell a story in order, naming the main characters, key events, and ending. They explain what the story teaches and point to an event that supports their answer. They practice with stories from different cultures and genres.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can retell The Lion and the Mouse without skipping the mouse's rescue. They can explain that even someone small can help and point to the mouse freeing the lion as proof.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may tell events out of order or include small details while missing a key event. They may name a topic, such as friendship, instead of explaining what the story teaches about it.
How to Assess It
- After reading The Lion and the Mouse, ask: “What happened first, next, and last? What lesson does the story teach, and which event shows it?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give students picture cards of the lion sparing the mouse, the lion trapped in a net, and the mouse chewing ropes; have them order and retell.
Ask, “What does the lion learn when the mouse frees him? Which event helps you know?” Have partners share answers.
Make ending and lesson cards for The Lion and the Mouse and The Empty Pot; have partners match each ending to a lesson and explain why.
Ask students to name a way a classmate could help someone bigger, then connect it to the mouse helping the lion.
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Printable 2.RL.2 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 2.RL.2, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- 1.RL.2
Retell stories, including key ideas and details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
- 3.RL.2
Retell stories, determine the central message and theme and explain how it is revealed through key details in the text.
- 7.RL.2
Determine a theme or central idea(s) of a text.
- 3.RL.9
Compare and contrast the central message, themes, settings, and plots of stories about the same or similar topics.
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