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Common Core ELA2nd GradeReading: Informational

RI.2.2: Find the Main Topic and What Each Paragraph Is About

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.2 · Cluster: Key Ideas and Details.

All 40 2nd Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.

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

What RI.2.2 Means in Plain English

Second graders read a nonfiction text of several paragraphs, name what the whole thing is about and say what each paragraph focuses on. In a text about woodpeckers, the topic is how a woodpecker’s body suits life on a tree, while one paragraph is only about its tongue.

In 1st grade (RI.1.2) children named the main topic of a whole book and retold its key details. Looking inside at single paragraphs is new in 2nd grade. In 3rd grade (RI.3.2) the topic grows into a main idea, and students explain how the details support it.

RI.2.2 I Can Statements

  • I can tell what a whole nonfiction text is mostly about.
  • I can tell what one paragraph is mostly about.
  • I can tell a paragraph’s focus apart from the main topic.

RI.2.2 Worked Example

A three-paragraph text about woodpeckers, one question about the whole text and one about a single paragraph, and two answers to it.

Read the Story
A woodpecker’s beak is hard and pointed, like a chisel. The bird hammers it into tree bark to dig out the insects hiding underneath.Its tongue is long, with a sticky, spiky tip. When the woodpecker finds a tunnel full of insects, it pokes its tongue in and pulls them out. The tongue is so long that, tucked away, it wraps around the back of the bird’s head.A woodpecker’s feet have two toes pointing forward and two pointing back, so it can grip the side of a tree. Its stiff tail feathers press against the bark and hold it up, like a kickstand on a bike.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: What is this whole text mostly about? What is the second paragraph about?
Not Yet“It’s about a woodpecker’s beak. The second paragraph is about insects.”The beak is only the focus of paragraph 1, and insects show up in two paragraphs without being what either one is about. The child grabbed words that stood out instead of asking what each part tells.
Meets the Standard“The whole text is about how a woodpecker’s body helps it live on trees and catch insects. The second paragraph is about its tongue: it’s long and sticky, it pulls insects out of tunnels, and it wraps around the back of the bird’s head.”The topic covers all three paragraphs, the beak, the tongue and the feet and tail, and the paragraph answer names its one focus and backs it with details from that paragraph.
Question Stems to Use
What is the whole text mostly about?What is this paragraph mostly about?Does your topic fit every paragraph? Check each one.Which sentence tells you what this paragraph is about?If this paragraph had a heading, what would it say?

Common Mistakes with RI.2.2

Naming the first paragraph as the topic

“It’s about a woodpecker’s beak.”

Try this: Test the topic against each paragraph in turn: “Is paragraph 3 about the beak?” A real topic fits all of them.

Naming a word instead of a focus

“Paragraph 2 is about insects.”

Try this: Ask what the paragraph tells about the woodpecker, then have the child give it a heading of three or four words.

A topic too big to be useful

“It’s about birds.”

Try this: Ask “Which bird, and what about it?” until the topic names woodpeckers and what all three paragraphs share.

Where RI.2.2 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.1.2Name the main topic of a book and retell its key details.
AlongsideRI.2.5Use subheadings to see what a section is about before reading it.W.2.2Write a short report that introduces a topic and builds its points with facts.
Comes NextRI.3.2Find the main idea, recount the key details and explain how they support it.

Practice RI.2.2

Quick Check

  1. What is the woodpecker text mostly about?
  2. What is the third paragraph about?
  3. Which paragraph tells what the woodpecker’s tongue does?

RI.2.2: Other Names

RI.2.2CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.2

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.