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Common Core ELA2nd GradeReading: Literature

RL.2.2: Recount Fables and Find the Lesson

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

All 40 2nd Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.

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

What RL.2.2 Means in Plain English

Second graders retell a fable or folktale in order, then say the lesson it teaches as advice anyone could use. The tales come from many cultures, like an Anansi story from West Africa or a Jataka tale from India.

In 1st grade (RL.1.2) children retold stories and showed they understood the lesson. Now they name it themselves, and the tales come from cultures around the world. In 3rd grade (RL.3.2) myths join the mix, and students explain which details carry the lesson.

RL.2.2 I Can Statements

  • I can retell a fable or folktale in the right order.
  • I can tell the lesson a story teaches in one sentence.
  • I can use what the character learns to find the lesson.

RL.2.2 Worked Example

An original fable set in the Kalahari Desert, and two answers that recount it and name its lesson.

Read the Story
In the Kalahari Desert, the meerkat family took turns standing guard while the others dug for beetles.One morning it was little Zuri’s turn. The sky was empty, and standing still was so boring.When a shiny beetle scuttled past, Zuri chased it behind a rock.Just then a hawk dove from the sky. Nobody whistled a warning, and the family scrambled underground just in time.The next morning Zuri asked for the first turn, and she never once took her eyes off the sky.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: Retell the fable in a few sentences. What lesson does it teach?
Not Yet“Zuri chased a beetle. The lesson is don’t chase beetles.”It keeps one moment and turns it into a rule about beetles. A lesson has to fit the whole story, including the hawk and what Zuri does the next day.
Meets the Standard“Zuri was supposed to guard her family, but she got bored and chased a beetle. A hawk came and nobody warned them, so they almost got caught. The next day she guarded carefully. The lesson is: when others count on you, do your job even if it is boring.”It retells the beginning, the problem and the ending in order, and the lesson is advice anyone could follow, built from what Zuri learned.
Question Stems to Use
At the beginning…The problem was…Then…At the end, the character learned…The lesson is…I know because…

Common Mistakes with RL.2.2

Retelling every detail

“The beetle was shiny and it ran behind a rock and the rock was big and…”

Try this: Give each child three sticky notes for beginning, problem and ending, one sentence per note, then retell from the notes.

A lesson that only fits this story

“Don’t chase beetles.”

Try this: Ask “Could a child in our class use this advice?” If the lesson only works for meerkats, send them back to what Zuri learned.

Naming a topic instead of a lesson

“It’s about being responsible.”

Try this: Turn the one word into advice with the frame “It is important to… because…” and have the child finish it aloud.

Where RL.2.2 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.1.2Retell a story with its key details and show the lesson is understood.
AlongsideRL.2.9Compare two versions of the same tale by different authors or from different cultures.SL.2.2Retell the key ideas and details of a story read aloud.
Comes NextRL.3.2Recount fables, folktales and myths, and explain how key details carry the lesson.

Practice RL.2.2

Quick Check

  1. What job did the meerkats take turns doing?
  2. Why did nobody warn the family about the hawk?
  3. How do you know Zuri learned the lesson?

RL.2.2: Other Names

RL.2.2CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.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.