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A Story With Feelings and an Ending

A 40-minute Grade 2 lesson on writing a narrative with a sequence of events, details, feelings and a proper ending.

A Story With Feelings and an Ending is a free 40-minute Grade 2 English lesson plan for Common Core standard W.2.3 — write a story with actions, thoughts and feelings, in a clear order. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the meaning, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Grade 2
Length:
40 minutes
Standard:
W.2.3

Grade 2 · Writing

W.2.3

Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.

Objective

Students will be able to write a short narrative of a real or imagined event in order, using time words, with at least one action, one thought and one feeling, and an ending that closes the story.

Students are successful when they can

  • Tells events in order using time words: first, next, then, after that, in the end.
  • Includes what the character did, thought and felt: "I thought, 'Oh no!' My heart was thumping."
  • Ends with a sentence that shows how the problem was solved or how the character felt at the end.

What you need

  • Model story "The Kite in the Tree" on chart paper (in the Teach section)
  • Three highlighters: did, thought, felt
  • Time-word strip: first, next, then, after that, in the end
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — what happened next?

5 min
  1. Say: "I dropped my lunch. I ate a sandwich." Ask: "Is that a story?" Fish for "it doesn't say how you felt" or "what happened in between?"
  2. Retell with more: "At lunch I dropped my tray. I thought, 'Now I'll be hungry!' I felt my face go red. Then my friend shared her sandwich, and I felt happy again."
  3. Ask what changed. The second version tells what I did, thought and felt.
“A good story shows the reader what happened, and what was going on inside the character's head.”

Teach — did, thought, felt

13 min
  1. Show the model: "The Kite in the Tree. On Saturday, Mia flew her new red kite in the park. First, the wind lifted it high above the trees. Then a big gust pulled the string out of her hand. The kite landed at the top of an oak tree. Mia thought, 'I will never get it back.' Her eyes filled with tears. After that, her dad found a long branch and hooked the string. Slowly, the kite came down. In the end, Mia hugged her kite and decided to hold on tighter next time."
  2. Highlight with the class: actions in yellow (flew, pulled, hooked), thoughts in green ("I will never get it back"), feelings in pink (eyes filled with tears, hugged).
  3. Circle the time words: On Saturday, First, Then, After that, In the end. Ask: "What would happen if we took them out?" It gets harder to follow.
  4. Talk about the ending: "In the end, Mia hugged her kite and decided to hold on tighter next time." Ask: "Why is this better than 'The end'?" Fish for "it tells us the problem was solved and what she learned."
  5. Show "show, don't just tell": "Mia was sad" versus "Her eyes filled with tears." Ask which one lets you picture it.
  6. Plan a new story together on the board: "The day I lost my shoe." Four boxes with a time word each, and one feeling in box 2.
“Ask yourself three questions in every story: What did they do? What did they think? How did they feel?”

Guided practice — plan and start

12 min
  1. Children choose a real event: a time they lost something, got stuck, made something or had to start again.
  2. They plan on four boxes with time words, and write one "thought" and one "feeling" on sticky notes to place in the boxes.
  3. Each child writes the first two sentences and reads them to a partner. The partner names the time word and asks: "How did you feel then?"
  4. Share one strong "thought" sentence and one "feeling" sentence with the class.
“Put the thought inside quotation marks, like the character is talking to themselves.”

Independent practice

8 min
  1. Students complete the printable. Both sheets give a story prompt, such as a time you had to start again or a day the weather changed everything, with a checklist: actions, thoughts, feelings and time words.
  2. Remind them to plan the ending before they start writing.

Close

2 min
  1. Ask two children to read only their last sentence. The class says whether it closes the story.

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Writes a list of events with "and then" each time: "I went to the park and then I flew my kite and then..."

Why: "And then" is the joining phrase they know best, and they are concentrating on remembering what happened, not how to link it.

Fix: Give the time-word strip and ask them to replace every second "and then" with a different time word, starting a new sentence each time.

Names feelings only with "happy" or "sad": "I was sad. Then I was happy."

Why: These are the feeling words they have, and naming a feeling feels like the job done.

Fix: Ask "What did your body do?" (tears, red face, jumping) and write that instead: "My eyes stung." Build a feelings word bank from their answers.

Ends with "The end" or "Then I went home and went to bed."

Why: They know a story must stop but not that the ending should finish the problem the story set up.

Fix: Ask: "What was the problem? Is it solved?" Write an ending that solves it or says what the character learned.

If they are not there yet

  • Give a four-box planner with time words printed in each box.
  • Let the child draw each event first, then write one sentence under each drawing.
  • Give feeling sentence starters: "My heart ___." "I thought, '___.'"

If they finish early

  • Write the same event from two characters' points of view, showing what each thought.
  • Add a sentence of dialogue between two characters that moves the story along.
  • Write two endings, one happy and one surprising, and explain which works better for the story.

Exit ticket

Rewrite with a thought and a feeling: "I lost my dog. I found him."

What to look for: e.g. "I lost my dog. I thought, 'Where is he?' My tummy felt tight. Then I found him under the bed and laughed." A thought but no feeling, or the reverse: one part needs practice. Just adding "I was sad": show-don't-tell needs more modeling.

Printable practice for W.2.3

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about A Story With Feelings and an Ending

How long does the A Story With Feelings and an Ending lesson take?

40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 13 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does A Story With Feelings and an Ending teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.3 — W.2.3, Writing for Grade 2: “Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.” In plain terms, write a story with actions, thoughts and feelings, in a clear order.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

Model story "The Kite in the Tree" on chart paper (in the Teach section), three highlighters: did, thought, felt, time-word strip: first, next, then, after that, in the end and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: writes a list of events with "and then" each time: "I went to the park and then I flew my kite and then..."; names feelings only with "happy" or "sad": "I was sad. Then I was happy." and ends with "The end" or "Then I went home and went to bed.". The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “Rewrite with a thought and a feeling: "I lost my dog. I found him.".” e.g. "I lost my dog. I thought, 'Where is he?' My tummy felt tight. Then I found him under the bed and laughed." A thought but no feeling, or the reverse: one part needs practice. Just adding "I was sad": show-don't-tell needs more modeling. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with A Story With Feelings and an Ending?

Yes — 1 printable W.2.3 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is A Story With Feelings and an Ending free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on October 8, 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-10-08. Aligned to W.2.3 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.