Common Core ELA2nd GradeReading: Informational

RI.2.1: Ask and Answer Who, What, Where, When, Why and How

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1 · Cluster: Key Ideas and Details.

The Official Wording

Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 2, Reading: Informational Text · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RI.2.1 Means in Plain English

Second graders ask and answer the full set of question words about a nonfiction text: who, what, where, when, why and how. Why and how matter most, because their answers spread across sentences: to say why George Ferris built his giant wheel, a reader joins two facts.

In 1st grade (RI.1.1) the questions were about key details, with no question words named. Second grade names all six, which pushes children past who and what. In 3rd grade (RI.3.1) students also point to the words in the text that prove each answer.

RI.2.1 I Can Statements

I can ask who, what, where, when, why and how questions.
I can answer a question with facts from the text.
I can put two facts together to answer why or how.

RI.2.1 Worked Example

A short history passage about the first Ferris wheel, one why-and-how question, and two answers: one that guesses and one that uses the text.

Read the Story

In 1893, millions of visitors came to a world’s fair in Chicago, Illinois.The fair’s planners wanted something as amazing as the Eiffel Tower, the giant iron tower that had been built for a fair in Paris four years before.An engineer named George Ferris had an idea: a giant steel wheel that would carry people high into the sky.The wheel had 36 cars, and each car could hold 60 people. Big steam engines turned it slowly, so riders could look out over the whole fair.Riders loved it. Today, wheels like it all over the world are called Ferris wheels, after the man who built the first one.

A short passage written for this page.

Question: Why did George Ferris build his wheel, and how could it carry so many people at once?

Not Yet“Because people like rides.”It sounds reasonable, and it may even be true, but the passage never says it. The child answered from what they know about fairs and skipped the how half of the question.

Meets the Standard“The fair’s planners wanted something as amazing as the Eiffel Tower, so George Ferris built a giant wheel. It could carry so many people because it had 36 cars, and each car held 60 people.”The why half joins facts from two sentences, the how half comes from a third, and nothing is added that the passage did not say.

Question Stems to Use

Who had the idea for the wheel?Where and when was the fair?What did the fair’s planners want?Why did George Ferris build the wheel?How did the wheel carry so many people at once?How did the Ferris wheel get its name?

Common Mistakes with RI.2.1

Answering from what they already know

“Because people like rides.” for a why question the text answers

Try this: Ask “Where does the text say that?” and have the child put a finger on the sentence before answering out loud.

Stopping at who and what

A child who can name George Ferris and the wheel but freezes on why or how

Try this: Plan one why and one how question for every text, and model joining two sentences to answer them.

Asking only questions with one-word answers

“Who built the wheel?” “George Ferris.” and nothing that takes more than a name

Try this: Have partners write one question each that needs a full sentence to answer, then trade and answer from the text.

Where RI.2.1 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.1.1Ask and answer questions about key details in an informational text.

AlongsideRL.2.1The same question words, asked about a story’s characters and events.SL.2.3Ask a speaker questions to clear up a confusing part or learn more.

Comes NextRI.3.1Answer questions and point to the words in the text that prove each answer.