Social Skills Reading Comprehension Passages — Grade 2

About this resource

Walt walks in each morning with his eyes on his sneakers. These social skills reading comprehension passages give Grade 2 readers ten short texts at F&P levels K–M about the everyday moves that help people get along: greeting, taking turns, joining a game and losing a race with a smile. It’s a Relationship Skills set of SEL reading comprehension for the early elementary classroom.

What students practice

• Greeting people with a smile and a hello
• Taking turns in games and on playground equipment
• Asking to join a game politely
• Being a good sport after a loss
• Noticing social cues in faces and bodies

What’s inside

• 10 passages at F&P levels K–M, each a different text type, from a fable to a problem-and-solution text
• 5 multiple-choice questions after every passage
• 2 open-ended questions per passage
• A takeaway closing each passage
• Multiple-choice answer key on the last page of the PDF
• 34 pages

A look inside

• The Puppy Who Always Grabbed the Ball: Waffles keeps the ball to himself until an older dog shows him that taking turns makes the game last longer.
• Three Steps to Join a Game: watch first, wait for a pause, then ask, “Can I play too?”
• Two Ways to Finish a Relay: after a recess race, Vikram stomps off while Yaw high-fives the winner.
• How Penguins Find and Greet Their Family: in a huge, noisy colony, penguins listen for one special call.

How to use these social skills reading passages in Grade 2

• A reading group, beginning with Walt’s story at level K
• A partner read of “My Turn on the Tire Swing”, followed by the two open-ended questions
• An SEL lesson on sharing, using “The Block Corner Crowd” and its sign-up sheet idea
• Spare minutes after lunch, with a single passage such as “What Is a Social Cue?”

Grade fit

Seven- and eight-year-olds are learning these skills on the playground every day, and the passages stay right there: a tire swing, a block corner at choice time, the school bus, Grandparents Day. Levels rise from K to M, so these reading passages with questions have room for both newer and stronger readers.

Digital version

With the interactive digital version, you share one link and students read each passage and answer the questions on any device, with no student logins. At the end they download an answer sheet to hand in.

Pairs well with

To act out the same skills, try Social Skills Role Play Scenarios, or talk them through with Social Skills Conversation Cards.