Story Practice
Practice answering comprehension questions about read-aloud stories. Listen carefully and show what you understand about characters, setting, and events!
How to Answer Story Questions
Practice Makes Perfect!
The more stories you read and questions you answer, the better you will understand books. Let's practice with some fun stories!
- Who are the characters? (people or animals)
- Where does the story happen? (the setting)
- What happens in the beginning, middle, and end?
- How do the characters feel?
Your Progress
1 Story: The Birthday Balloon
The Birthday Balloon
Mia had a bright red balloon at her birthday party. She held it tightly as she walked around the backyard.
Suddenly, a strong wind came! The balloon slipped from Mia's hand and flew up into the sky.
Mia felt sad. She started to cry. Her dad saw her crying and gave her a big hug.
"Look!" said Dad. He had a surprise - a new purple balloon! Mia smiled and said, "Thank you, Dad!" She held this balloon extra tight.
Questions About The Birthday Balloon
CHARACTER Who is the main character in this story?
SETTING Where did the story happen?
EVENTS What happened to Mia's red balloon?
FEELINGS How did Mia feel when she lost her balloon?
2 Story: The Helpful Ant
The Helpful Ant
One summer afternoon, a tiny ant named Andy found a big cookie crumb near the picnic table.
"This is too heavy for me!" said Andy. He pushed and pulled, but the crumb would not move.
Andy's friend Bella the ant walked by. "Do you need help?" she asked. "Yes, please!" said Andy.
Together, Andy and Bella carried the cookie crumb all the way back to their ant hill. They shared it with all their ant friends.
"Thank you for helping me!" said Andy. "Friends help friends!" said Bella with a smile.
Questions About The Helpful Ant
CHARACTER Who are the two main characters?
BEGINNING What did Andy find at the beginning of the story?
MIDDLE What was Andy's problem in the middle of the story?
END What happened at the end of the story?
3 Story: Rainy Day Fun
Rainy Day Fun
Ben woke up on Saturday morning and looked out the window. It was raining hard!
"Oh no!" said Ben. "I wanted to play outside at the playground."
Ben felt disappointed. But then his mom had an idea. "Let's build a pillow fort in the living room!" she said.
Ben and Mom used blankets and pillows to build the biggest fort ever! They read stories inside the fort with a flashlight.
"This is even better than the playground!" said Ben, feeling happy. Sometimes rainy days can be the best days!
Questions About Rainy Day Fun
SETTING When does this story take place?
EVENTS What was the weather like in the story?
EVENTS What did Ben and Mom build?
FEELINGS How did Ben feel at the end of the story?
What We Practiced
Characters
We identified who was in each story.
Setting
We found where and when stories happened.
Events
We remembered what happened in the stories.
Feelings
We understood how characters felt.
Next Steps
- Read more stories with a grown-up and practice answering questions
- Try to retell stories in your own words
- Notice how characters feel at different parts of the story
- When you are ready, move on to Story Response!