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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Healthy Mind, Healthy Body: The Value of Vegetables – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a comic from the Year 5 magazine (Issue 2).
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The Secret Society of Vegetable Venerators – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a narrative from the Year 5 magazine (Issue 2).
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Comprehension Task Cards - Recalling Facts And Details
A set of comprehension task cards to help students recall facts and details when reading.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Recognising Cause And Effect
A set of comprehension task cards to help students recognise cause and effect when reading.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Compare And Contrast
A set of comprehension task cards to help students compare and contrast when reading.
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Comprehension - Family Day At The Beach
A comprehension activity using a recount for lower grades.
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Year 5 Reading Worksheets - The Business of Bees
Read and learn about bees, pollination and honey production with a reading comprehension passage and worksheet pack.
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Understanding Sequence - Jack and the Beanstalk
A worksheet to use when teaching students how to understand sequence when reading.
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The Effects of Urban Lighting Worksheet Pack
Read and learn about the impact of light pollution with our Effects of Urban Lighting Worksheet Pack.
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Narrative Tension – Text Analysis Worksheets
Teach narrative tension with this set of three worksheets designed to help students explore how authors build suspense and keep readers hooked.
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Comparing Assertions Worksheet Pack
Get your students to compare assertions with this engaging set of worksheets designed to help students distinguish between strong and weak persuasive writing.
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Year 2 Magazine - "What's Buzzing?" (Issue 2) Task Cards
A set of five literacy rotation task cards to be used in conjunction with Issue 2 of Teach Starter’s Year 2 magazine.
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Year 1 Magazine - "What's Buzzing?" (Issue 1) Task Cards
A set of five literacy rotation task cards to be used in conjunction with Issue 1 of Teach Starter's Year 1 magazine.
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First Nations Instruments Reading Comprehension Worksheets
Use First Nations Instruments Reading Comprehension Worksheets to help your Year Two students learn about some traditional First Nations Australians musical instruments and their characteristic sounds.
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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 2 Magazine – What's Buzzing (Issue 3)
Issue 3 of our beautifully designed, 22-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 2 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.
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Foundation Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 16-page reading magazine specifically designed for Foundation students.
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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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Earth, Sun and Moon – Comprehension Worksheet
Read about and compare physical characteristics of the Eath, sun and moon with this reading comprehension sheet.
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NAPLAN Reading Magazine – Year 3
5 reading texts with multiple choice questions for NAPLAN Reading Year 3.
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Peer Politics: Moving On (Comic) – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a comic from the Year 6 magazine (Issue 3).
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Wolfie: A Tell-all Interview – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a narrative from the Year 2 magazine (Issue 3).
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Letter to the Editor (Sugary Snacks Ban) – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a letter to the editor from the Year 5 magazine (Issue 3).
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Days of the Week – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a magazine article from the Foundation magazine (Issue 3).
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The Poet's Lament - Comprehension
A comprehension activity using a poem.
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Comprehension - Plums For Mrs Smith
A comprehension activity using a recount for lower grades.
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Comprehension - Roald Dahl
A comprehension activity using a biography of Roald Dahl.
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Fennec Fox Adaptations - Close Reading Worksheets
Read and learn about Fennec Fox adaptations with a set of printable Reading Comprehension Worksheets for Year 5.
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Uses of Magnets Comprehension Worksheet
Download this magnets worksheet to teach your Year 4 students about the uses of magnets in our everyday lives.
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All About Soldiers - Comprehension and Building Background Worksheets
Learn about soldiers and Remembrance Day with a group of six worksheets that build background and comprehension skills.