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Common Core ELA2nd GradeReading: Informational

RI.2.6: Tell Why the Author Wrote a Text

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.6 · Cluster: Craft and Structure.

All 40 2nd Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.

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

What RI.2.6 Means in Plain English

Second graders say why an author wrote a nonfiction text: to answer a question, explain how something works or describe something. A text that opens with “Why do some years have 366 days?” and spends every sentence on that is written to answer it.

In 1st grade (RI.1.6) children sorted what they learned from the pictures from what they learned from the words. Second grade turns to the author’s reason for writing. In 3rd grade (RI.3.6) students tell the author’s point of view apart from their own.

RI.2.6 I Can Statements

  • I can tell why an author wrote a nonfiction text.
  • I can find the question an author wants to answer.
  • I can tell a text’s topic apart from its purpose.

RI.2.6 Worked Example

A short text that answers one question from start to finish, and two answers about why the author wrote it: one that names the topic and one that names the purpose.

Read the Story
Why do some years have 366 days?It takes Earth about 365 days and 6 hours to travel all the way around the sun. That trip is one year.Our calendar has only 365 days, so each year the calendar ends about 6 hours before Earth finishes its trip.After four years, those extra hours add up to 24 hours, which is one whole day.So every four years, we add one day to the end of February. February 29 is called leap day, and a year that has one is called a leap year.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: Why did the author write this text?
Not Yet“To tell us about February.”February shows up only in the last line, and the answer names a topic, not a reason for writing. It would fit a text about Valentine’s Day just as well.
Meets the Standard“To answer the question ‘Why do some years have 366 days?’ The first line asks it, and every sentence after that is part of the answer, up to the extra day in February.”The child names the purpose as a question the author wants to answer, and proves it by showing that every line serves that question.
Question Stems to Use
Why do you think the author wrote this?What question is the author trying to answer?Is the author answering, explaining or describing?Which sentence tells you the author’s purpose?Does every part of the text help with that purpose?

Common Mistakes with RI.2.6

Naming the topic as the purpose

“It’s about leap years.”

Try this: Ask the follow-up “What did the author want you to know about it?” until the answer starts with to answer, to explain or to describe.

Answering “to inform” and stopping

“The author wrote it to inform.” for every nonfiction text

Try this: Accept “to inform” only with the rest of the sentence: inform us about what, or answer which question?

Missing a purpose stated as a question

Reading “Why do some years have 366 days?” as a title and skipping past it

Try this: Teach students to turn a question title into the purpose sentence: “The author wants to answer why some years have 366 days.”

Where RI.2.6 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.1.6Tell which information comes from a book’s pictures and which comes from its words.
AlongsideRI.2.2Name the main topic of the text, the what that comes before the why.W.2.8Answer a question by recalling experiences or gathering facts from given sources.
Comes NextRI.3.6Tell their own point of view apart from the author’s.

Practice RI.2.6

Quick Check

  1. What question does the leap year text answer?
  2. How long does it take Earth to travel around the sun?
  3. What is leap day?

RI.2.6: Other Names

RI.2.6CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.6

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.