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Writing Assignment
The Three Little Pigs
Grade 2 RL.2.3 ~15 min 5 steps
Standard: Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

What to Do

  1. Read the passage.
  2. Look at the Word Bank.
  3. Do each step. Write on the lines.
  4. At the end, circle your stars in How Did I Do?

Let's read the story of the Three Little Pigs! Then you'll
think about what each pig is like and how they respond to
the wolf.

The Three Little Pigs

1

Three little pigs left home to build their own houses. The first pig built his house out of straw. The second pig built his house out of sticks.

2

The third pig worked very hard. He built his house out of bricks. It took a long time, but it was very strong.

3

A big bad wolf came to the straw house. He huffed and puffed and blew it down. The first pig ran to the stick house.

4

The wolf huffed and puffed and blew the stick house down too. Both pigs ran to the brick house.

5

The wolf huffed and puffed at the brick house, but he could not blow it down. The three pigs were safe inside.

Word Bank
WordDefinition
straw Dried pieces of plants, like hay. Very light and not very strong.
huffed Blew out a big breath of air, very hard.
Writing Steps
1 Meet the Characters
Tell us about the characters in this story:
- Who is in the story?
- What do you notice about them?

You can use short sentences. There is no wrong answer!

Try starting with:
- "The story has..."
- "In this story, there is..."
- "The characters are..."
The characters are the people or animals in the story. Let us meet them!
Scoring Guidance — Step 1
Look for:
  • Who is in the story?
  • What do you notice about them?
  • How many characters are there?
Main Idea
Detail / Evidence 1
Detail / Evidence 2
Detail / Evidence 3
2 How Do They Feel?
Tell us how the characters feel:

1. Who: Pick a character from the story.
2. How they feel: Pick a feeling word.
3. Why: Why do they feel this way?

Try starting with:
- "The character feels... because..."
- "They feel... because..."
Now let us think about how the characters feel in the story. Characters can feel happy, sad, scared, mad, or excited - just like us!

How do they feel?
Scoring Guidance — Step 2
Look for:
  • How does the character feel? Happy? Sad? Scared? Mad?
  • Why do they feel this way?
  • What happens that makes them feel this way?
Sentence Starters
In the text, the author shows that ___.
The author writes, "___," which shows ___.
This is important because ___.
Overall, the text shows that ___.
3 What Happens?
Tell us about the big event or challenge:

1. What happens: What is the big thing that happens in the story?
2. Who is affected: Which characters does it happen to?

Try starting with:
- "The big thing that happens is..."
- "In the story, something happens when..."
- "The challenge is..."
Great job! Now let us find the big thing that happens in the story - the event or challenge the characters face.

How do the three pigs respond to the wolf? What does each pig do differently?
Scoring Guidance — Step 3
Look for:
  • What is the biggest thing that happens?
  • Is there a problem or challenge?
  • What do the characters have to deal with?
Sentence Starters
In the text, the author shows that ___.
The author writes, "___," which shows ___.
This is important because ___.
Overall, the text shows that ___.
4 What Do They Do?
Tell us how the character responds:

1. What they do: What does the character do when the big thing happens?
2. Why they do it: Why do you think they do this?

Try starting with:
- "When ___ happened, the three pigs did ___"
- "They respond by..."
- "After ___ happened, the three pigs..."
You are doing so well! When something big happens in a story, characters react! They might do something brave, ask for help, or try to fix the problem.

What do they do when the big event happens?
Scoring Guidance — Step 4
Look for:
  • What does the character do when something big happens?
  • How do they react?
  • Why do you think they did that?
Sentence Starters
In the text, the author shows that ___.
The author writes, "___," which shows ___.
This is important because ___.
Overall, the text shows that ___.
5 Put It All Together
Write your complete answer in 2-4 sentences. Your answer should:

1. Tell about the characters and how they feel
2. Tell what the big event or challenge is
3. Tell what the characters do about it

Try starting with:
- "In this story, the three pigs..."
- "When ___ happened, the three pigs..."

You can do it!
You did it! Now let us put everything together to answer our question:
How do the three pigs respond to the wolf? What does each pig do differently?
Scoring Guidance — Step 5
Look for:
  • Start by telling about the character
  • Tell what happens
  • Tell what the character does about it
Sentence Starters
In the text, the author shows that ___.
The author writes, "___," which shows ___.
This is important because ___.
Overall, the text shows that ___.

How Did I Do?

Circle one box for each step.

2How Do They Feel?
★★★I did it!
★★☆Almost
★☆☆I need help
3What Happens?
★★★I did it!
★★☆Almost
★☆☆I need help
4What Do They Do?
★★★I did it!
★★☆Almost
★☆☆I need help
5Put It All Together
★★★I did it!
★★☆Almost
★☆☆I need help

Before You Turn In

I did every step
I checked my spelling
I am proud of this work

Reflection

What was hard? What are you proud of?

For the Teacher

Teacher Guide — The Three Little Pigs

RL.2.3 — Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. · Grade 2 · ~15 min

The student pages use short directions and a How Did I Do? star self-check instead of a printed rubric — most readers at this grade can't parse rubric language yet. Walk through the stars together after the last step. Score finished work against the full rubric below.

Scoring Rubric
LevelWhat it looks like
5 — Advanced Student describes character responses with feelings and details. Shows strong understanding of how characters react to what happens.
4 — Proficient Student clearly describes how characters respond to events and challenges in the story.
3 — Developing Student describes how a character responds to something that happens. Meets basic grade-level expectations for character response.
2 — Emerging Student names characters but does not describe how they respond to events or challenges in the story.
1 — Beginning Student does not describe the characters or what they do. May not understand the story or the question.
Step-by-Step Coaching Notes
Step 1 — Meet the Characters
  • Who is in the story?
  • What do you notice about them?
  • How many characters are there?
Step 2 — How Do They Feel?
  • How does the character feel? Happy? Sad? Scared? Mad?
  • Why do they feel this way?
  • What happens that makes them feel this way?
Step 3 — What Happens?
  • What is the biggest thing that happens?
  • Is there a problem or challenge?
  • What do the characters have to deal with?
Step 4 — What Do They Do?
  • What does the character do when something big happens?
  • How do they react?
  • Why do you think they did that?
Step 5 — Put It All Together
  • Start by telling about the character
  • Tell what happens
  • Tell what the character does about it
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