Reading Passages Teaching Resources
Explore reading passages ready to be used in your primary classroom to assess your students' comprehension skills and build their confidence as readers!
Created by teachers for teachers, each reading passage in this extensive collection has been designed to enhance student comprehension skills and build understanding. This collection of Australian English curriculum-aligned comprehension passages was created by the teachers on the Teach Starter team, and each has undergone a review by an expert on our team to ensure it’s ready for your classroom.
Not sure where to begin? Here’s a quick primer from our teacher team to help you get the most out of this teacher tool!
What Are Reading Passages?
Reading passages are a set of written texts that are typically used for reading comprehension exercises and assessments. They can come in various forms, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama. They are used to provide a text for students to read and analyse and are often accompanied by questions or tasks to assess comprehension, vocabulary, grammar and other language skills.
How to Use Reading Passages in the Classroom
This collection of short reading passages can be used for a variety of needs, including:
- Practising reading fluency
- Provide students with practise in reading comprehension and critical thinking skills
- Measuring students’ reading level
- Exposing students to different genres, authors and writing styles
Best of all? Teach Starter's reading passages have been developed so they can be used for individual or group activities.
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Comprehension - Stop Polluting The Ocean
A comprehension activity using a persuasive text.
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Comprehension - Tia's Tantrum
A comprehension activity using a narrative text.
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Comparing Narrative and Informational Text Worksheets
Use this set of comparing narrative and informational text worksheets to examine the purpose and features of these two common genres.
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The Three States of Matter – Year 5 Reading Worksheets
Use a Year 5 Reading Comprehension passage and worksheet to teach your students about the three states of matter.
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Australian Conservationists: Tim Flannery – Comprehension Worksheet
Learn about Tim Flannery and his conservation work with this 2-page reading passage and accompanying comprehension questions.
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Bowerbird Comprehension Worksheets
Learn all about the wonderful world of Bowerbirds all while practising comprehension skills.
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A Poppy for Remembering - Year 5 Reading Comprehension
Discover the history of the red poppy and its relation to Remembrance Day with printable reading comprehension worksheets for year 5.
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Year 6 Magazine – What's Buzzing? (Issue 3)
Issue 3 of our beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 6 students.
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Year 5 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 5 students.
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Year 4 Magazine – What's Buzzing? (Issue 3)
Issue 3 of our beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 4 students.
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The History of Halloween – Comprehension Worksheet
Learn about the history of Halloween with a printable reading comprehension passage and questions.
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Debating and Scrutinising Bills - Comprehension Worksheets
Explore how bills are debated and scrutinised in the Australian Federal Parliament with this differentiated reading comprehension activity.
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Developing and Introducing Bills – Comprehension Worksheets
Explore how bills are introduced and developed through the parliamentary process with this differentiated reading comprehension activity.
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Renewable vs Non-Renewable Energy Sources – Worksheet
Discover the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy sources with a comprehension passage and worksheet.
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Jamie Oliver Biography – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a biography from the Year 3 magazine (Issue 2).
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Blast Off with Space Rex 2000 – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a fake advertisement from the Year 5 magazine (Issue 2).
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J. K. Rowling Biography and Worksheet
Download this J.K. Rowling biography and worksheet, designed to help students learn about the life, education and writing career of the world-famous author.
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Welcome to India – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a country profile from the Year 6 magazine (Issue 2).
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The Cautious Carnival – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a fake advertisement from the Year 3 magazine (Issue 3).
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The Adventures of Pirate Nup and Captain Yet – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a narrative from the Year 4 magazine (Issue 3).
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The Escape Key - Story and Task Cards
An exciting short story about escaping a maze with a set of task cards to explore after the text has been read.
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Comprehension - Roald Dahl
A comprehension activity using a biography of Roald Dahl.
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Rio de Janeiro - Comprehension Task
A comprehension task that encourages students to apply a range of comprehension skills when finding out interesting fun facts about Rio.
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Year 1 Magazine – "What's Buzzing?" (Issue 3) Task Cards
A set of five literacy rotation task cards to be used in conjunction with Issue 3 of Teach Starter’s Year 1 magazine.
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Immigration Vocabulary List & Activity Pack
Download our immigration vocabulary list and printable vocabulary activities to teach your students about human migration and immigration.
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Australian Conservationists: John Walmsley – Comprehension Worksheet
Learn about Dr John Walmsley and his conservation work with this 2-page reading passage and accompanying comprehension questions.
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Australian Conservationists: Ian Kiernan – Comprehension Worksheet
Learn about Ian Kiernan and his conservation work with this 2-page reading passage and accompanying comprehension questions.
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The Force of Friction Comprehension Worksheets
Download this friction worksheet to teach your Year 4 students about the force of friction and its impact on our daily lives.
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Year 5 Magazine – What's Buzzing? (Issue 3)
Issue 3 of our beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 5 students.
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Year 5 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 2)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 5 students.
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Year 3 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 3 students.
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Foundation Magazine – What's Buzzing? (Bonus Issue)
A bonus issue of our beautifully designed, 16-page reading magazine specifically designed for Foundation students.