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Common Core ELA2nd GradeSpeaking & Listening

SL.2.3: Ask a Speaker Questions to Learn More

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.3 · Cluster: Comprehension and Collaboration.

Pick Who Asks NextAll 40 2nd Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 2, Speaking & Listening · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What SL.2.3 Means in Plain English

Second graders listen to a speaker, often a guest or a classmate presenting, and ask questions with a job: clearing up a confusing word, finding out more, or pushing past the facts to why. They also answer questions about what the speaker said.

First graders (SL.1.3) asked questions to gather information or clear up what they missed. Deepening understanding is the 2nd grade addition, the why and how questions that make a guest think. Third graders (SL.3.3) answer with elaboration and detail, not one word.

SL.2.3 I Can Statements

  • I can ask what a word means when a speaker uses it.
  • I can ask a question that helps me learn more.
  • I can ask why or how to understand the topic better.

SL.2.3 Worked Example

One visiting veterinarian, a few sentences of her talk, and two hands that went up: one with a story, one with real questions.

Prompt

Dr. Ruiz, a veterinarian, tells the class: “Before a dog has surgery, it can’t eat breakfast. When it wakes up, we keep it warm with blankets and check its heartbeat.” Now it is question time. Ask Dr. Ruiz something.

Not Yet“My dog’s name is Biscuit and he ate my sock once!”A story about the child’s own dog, not a question, and nothing in it connects to what Dr. Ruiz just said. She can only smile and call on someone else.
Meets the Standard“What does surgery mean? Is it like an operation?” (Dr. Ruiz says yes.) “Why can’t the dog eat breakfast first?” (She explains that a full tummy can make a dog throw up while it is asleep.) “How do you keep a dog still when it’s scared?”Three questions, each with a different job. The first clears up a word, the second asks why and deepens understanding of something she said, and the third gathers information Dr. Ruiz had not mentioned.
Moves to Use
Listen for a word or part you didn’t understand, and ask about it first.Ask a question, not a story: start with who, what, why or how.Ask why or how to go deeper than the facts the speaker gave.Listen to the answer, and ask a follow-up if you need one.

Common Mistakes with SL.2.3

A story instead of a question

“My dog ate my sock once!” when the hand goes up at question time

Try this: Have students say their question to a partner first, and check together that it starts with a question word.

Asking what was already answered

“Can dogs eat before surgery?” a minute after Dr. Ruiz said they can’t

Try this: Pause the talk twice for partners to say one thing the speaker already told them, so questions start from what was said.

Only what-questions

Every question asks for a new fact, and nobody asks why the vet does any of it

Try this: Sort the class’s questions on a chart into clear-up, learn-more and go-deeper columns, and ask for one go-deeper question each visit.

Where SL.2.3 Fits

Comes BeforeSL.1.3Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says to gather information or clear up confusion.
AlongsideSL.2.1Ask for clarification and further explanation during group discussions, the same move with classmates.SL.2.2Recount the key ideas of information presented orally, which shows the listener followed the talk.
Comes NextSL.3.3Ask and answer questions about a speaker’s information, adding appropriate elaboration and detail.

Practice SL.2.3

Random Name PickerFree ToolSpin for who asks the guest the next question, so question time isn’t taken by the same three hands.Question timeGuest speaker
Spin a Name
Classroom TimerFree ToolA two-minute partner huddle before question time, so each pair agrees on one clear-up question and one go-deeper question.2 minutesPartner huddle
Start a Timer

Quick Check

  1. Which of the strong questions clears up a word, and which word?
  2. Why does “Why can’t the dog eat breakfast first?” go deeper than the others?
  3. Turn this comment into a question for Dr. Ruiz: “My cat goes to the vet.”

SL.2.3: Other Names

SL.2.3CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.3

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.