IXL | Read along with fantasy | 2nd grade language arts

Listen and read along with the first part of the story.

Aunt Ursula's Painting

Diamond looked at the new painting on her wall. It showed a strange-looking troll inside a funny-looking room. Another weird birthday gift from Aunt Ursula!

Everyone knew that Aunt Ursula was unusual. Some even said she could do magic. But Diamond loved her aunt, even if she did give odd gifts.

Diamond studied the painted scene. What was in those clay jars on the shelves behind the troll? Something creepy, maybe? Diamond shivered.

She turned to her other gifts. There were paints from Grandma and a soccer ball from Uncle Will. She grabbed the ball and bounced it with her knees. Right, left, right.

Suddenly, the ball flew upward and hit the painting. BAM! A second later, CRASH! Diamond turned to look.

The painting still hung on the wall. So then where had the crash come from? Diamond suddenly realized the crash had come from inside the painting!

What do some people say about Aunt Ursula?

She has magic powers.

She gives the best gifts.

She might be a troll.

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Learn with an example

question

Listen and read along with the first part of the story.

Kiana's Missing Unicorn

Kiana's hands and knees pressed into soft moss as she crawled around. She spotted something bright orange on the forest floor. A new kind of mushroom! She examined it with her magnifying glass.

"Marta, look at this!" Kiana called. But her unicorn wasn't next to her anymore. Where did Marta go?

Kiana looked up and saw Marta sniffing a beehive.

"Careful!" she warned.

But Marta went ahead and licked some honey from the beehive with her purple tongue.

Kiana froze, fearing the worst. But the bees just kept on working.

Chuckling, Kiana walked over to Marta. "You unicorns can get away with anything, can't you?" she said.

Marta made a strange buzzing noise.

"Are you okay?" Kiana asked.

But Marta just smiled and licked Kiana's face.

Why does Kiana warn Marta to be careful? Look for clues in the story.

She doesn't want Marta to eat the mushrooms.

She is worried that the bees will sting Marta.

She thinks that Marta might get lost.

key idea

Sometimes a story doesn't explain everything that you need to know. You have to make a guess using details from the story.

solution

When Marta licks a beehive, Kiana freezes and fears the worst. This shows that she is worried that Marta might get hurt. Bees may sting a creature that bothers their beehive.

So, you can guess why Kiana warns Marta to be careful. She is worried that the bees will sting Marta.

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Teacher tools

Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

V.2Use actions and dialogue to understand characters

SS.1Use context to identify the meaning of a word

FF.1Read along with fantasy

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