Problems and Solutions Worksheet

Every story turns on trouble. Something goes wrong for a character, that character tries to make it right, and the way the trouble finally gets fixed is the shape of the whole plot. This problems and solutions worksheet gives second graders a short, friendly narrative and asks them to name the two turning points at the heart of it: the problem the characters run into, and the solution that finally works. Learning to hear those two beats is how young readers stop retelling a story event by event and start explaining what it was actually about.

Two friends hang a bird feeder behind their school, fill it every morning, and wait for birds that never come. Their first idea does not work. Then one of them spots the real cause, and together they come up with a plan that does. Students read the story on page one, then answer four multiple-choice questions and one written response on page two. Use this story elements worksheet as guided reading practice, as a mini-lesson on plot, as morning work, or as a quick check before a longer reading unit. Because the answers come straight from the text, it also doubles as evidence-gathering practice: students have to point to the sentence that proves it.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• 1 original on-grade narrative passage, 4 multiple-choice questions and 1 written-response question

There are three reasons this problems and solutions worksheet helps children learn the skill. First, the story is written at a second grade reading level, so no reader loses the plot because the words are too hard. Second, the questions follow the plot in order, from the problem to the first failed attempt to the real cause to the solution, so the arc of the story becomes visible instead of abstract. Third, the final question asks for two details from the text, which builds the habit of backing up an answer with evidence rather than a guess.

Teachers and parents can stretch this skill well past the page. Stop halfway through any read-aloud and ask the class to predict how the problem will be solved. Keep a shared chart with two columns, Problem and Solution, and add a row after every book you read together. Ask students to tell a partner about a problem they solved at home, then write it as a three-sentence story. Act out a simple problem with puppets and let volunteers invent endings. Sing along with the Story Elements Song before independent reading so the vocabulary is fresh.

Related Resources

• Problem and Solutions Graphic Organizer Worksheet
• Story Elements Reading Graphic Organizer Worksheet
• Finding Story Elements Activity
• Story Elements Song