Answer, Explain or Describe? is a free printable Grade 2 English worksheet on naming which job a text is doing, aligned to Common Core standard RI.2.6. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 19 of them with different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
19 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two pupils have the same paper in front of them.
Answer, Explain or Describe?
RI.2.6
NameDate
Read the text, then answer the questions.
1.Read the text, then answer the questions.
Inside a Fire Engine
A fire engine carries everything a crew might need, because there is no time to go back for anything.
It holds about eighteen hundred litres of water. That sounds like a lot, but a hose can empty it in under three minutes, so the crew connect to a hydrant as soon as they can.
Ladders are carried on the roof. The longest can reach a third-floor window.
Inside are cutting tools for road accidents, breathing sets for smoke, and a thermal camera that finds a hot spot through a wall.
The engine is red so that it is seen. The siren is for when being seen is not enough.
1. What does the author want to explain?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.
How a Polar Bear Stays Warm
A polar bear lives where the sea freezes. It has three ways of keeping its heat in.
Under its skin is a layer of fat up to eleven centimetres thick. Fat is a poor conductor, so heat does not pass through it easily.
Above that is dense underfur, packed tight so cold water cannot reach the skin.
On top are long guard hairs. Each one is hollow and clear, not white. They look white because they scatter the light, the way snow does.
A polar bear is so well insulated that it can overheat if it runs too far.
1. What does the author want to explain?
LessonPrint · RI.2.6 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Answer, Explain or Describe?
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. Why a fire engine carries what it does.
2.1. How a polar bear stays warm where the sea freezes.
Questions about Answer, Explain or Describe?
What does the Answer, Explain or Describe? worksheet cover?
It practises naming which job a text is doing — 2 questions for Grade 2, all on Common Core RI.2.6: Say why the author wrote it and what they wanted to explain. The instruction to pupils is “Read the text, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which Common Core standard does Answer, Explain or Describe? practise?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.6 — RI.2.6, in the Reading: Informational Text domain for Grade 2. The published standard reads: “Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Answer, Explain or Describe? is written for Grade 2, typically ages 7-8. It is one of the sheets on RI.2.6, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Answer, Explain or Describe? come with an answer key?
Yes. All 2 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of Answer, Explain or Describe? can I print?
25 versions, of which 19 ask genuinely different questions — this skill does not have 25 distinct questions to give, so the rest reorder them and no two pupils still share a paper. Set 1 downloads all 25 as one PDF.
Is Answer, Explain or Describe? free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Answer, Explain or Describe?, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
More practice for RI.2.6
Say why the author wrote it and what they wanted to explain.