Year 2 Critical thinking: Autumn 2 worksheet

“What Is Missing?” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 2 critical thinking unit “Critical thinking: Autumn 2”, for children aged 6 to 7, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 7 to 12 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

What Is Missing?

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 2 · Critical thinking · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can spot what is missing from a short story or description.

A Look back3 min

1.
Kit says: “A cat has more legs than a bird.” What would show Kit is right? Circle one.
Counting the legs on each animalAsking which animal is cuterLooking at the colour of the cat
2.
Kit says: “Dogs are the favourite pet.” Write one thing that would show this is true.
3.
Write each card in the right column:
A cube has 6 square faces.A ball has no corners.A cube rolls like a ball.
True False

B Watch me, then you4 min

Ola wrote: “More of us chose sandwiches than soup or fruit.” Look at the chart. What is missing?

Watch me

The chart shows 6 children chose sandwiches.

It does not say why they chose them.

Gap: why the children chose sandwiches.

Now you

1.
Ali wrote: “Soup is the favourite lunch.” Look at the chart. Write one question about what is missing.

C Your turn7 min

Read each sentence. Ask: what don't we know yet? Then circle or write the gap.

1.
Most of the class came to school by bus. What important thing is missing? Circle one.
The colour of the busWhy most chose the busThe name of the school
2.
Sam was late for school at 8:30. What important thing is missing? Circle one.
The colour of his coatWhy he was lateWhat he ate for breakfast
3.
Dogs are the most common pet on our street. What do we need to know to trust this? Circle one.
How the pets were countedThe colour of the dogsWhether dogs are friendly
4.
Ali says: “I did not finish my lunch.” Write one gap.

Say it out loud: Which question helped you find each gap? Which missing thing mattered most?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Read the claim. Is it true?

A folded note lying on a kitchen table beside a mug

Kit says: “The note says Sam left early. So we know everything about why he left.”

1.
What is the gap? Write the question we still need to ask.

E Think deeper4 min

Make up a short sentence that leaves out an important reason.

1.
Write your sentence with a gap. Then write the question your grown-up should ask.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

What Is Missing? · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. Counting the legs on each animal If they pick cuter or colour, ask: does that tell us how many legs each animal has?

2. Look for: A check such as counting the tallies for dogs and cats, or asking more people which pet they like.

3. True: A cube has 6 square faces., A ball has no corners. · False: A cube rolls like a ball.

B

1. Look for: A question asking why, how or who, about something the chart does not show. If they only repeat the sentence, ask them: what don't we know yet?

C

1. Why most chose the bus If they circle the bus colour, ask: does the colour change why most came? Ask what the chart does not say.

2. Why he was late If they pick breakfast, ask: would knowing that explain why Sam was late?

3. How the pets were counted

4. Look for: A gap that asks why Ali did not finish lunch, or what happened, or how Ali felt.

D

1. Look for: A question asking why Sam left early, or where he went. If they write that nothing is missing, they took the claim at face value. Ask them: what don't we know yet?

E

1. Look for: A sentence that leaves out an important reason, plus a question that asks what is missing.

Words to use

Say“What don't we know yet?”

Instead of“Tell them the missing bit straight away.”

After the sheet

Read a sentence from a book at home, such as “The dog ran off.” Ask “What don't we know yet?” and list three questions together.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Writing a Conclusion Sentence(with a plan)
Spotting Repeats in Data(with a plan)
Pattern detectives(with a plan)
Giving Good Reasons(with a plan)
Fact or opinion?(with a plan)

Every Year 2 critical thinking worksheet

The worksheets plan opens a printable sheet for every lesson in Years 1 to 6, each with its answers on a separate page for you. It costs £6.99 a month or £59 a year for the whole family, with no free trial.

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