Reading Comprehension Teaching Resources
Explore printable reading comprehension worksheets, digital activities and more to teach reading comprehension strategies in your primary classroom. Created by teachers, for teachers, the teaching resources in this collection are aligned with the Australian curriculum and have undergone a careful review by a member of our expert teaching team.
You'll find editable versions to easily differentiate your instruction for individual students, plus various options to make your lesson planning easier this school year!
New to teaching this portion of the English curriculum or just looking for fresh and engaging ways to teach reading comprehension strategies? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including a simple definition of reading comprehension, a look at different strategies students can use and more!
What Is Reading Comprehension?
We'll start at the beginning! Reading comprehension is a skill that's hard to overestimate in terms of its importance for early years students to develop.
Defined as the ability to understand and interpret written language, reading comprehension involves the process of decoding text, extracting meaning from it, and then integrating that meaning with prior knowledge and understanding.
Not only does comprehension comprise the ability to recognise and understand individual words, but it also involves the ability to recognise patterns and relationships within sentences and paragraphs, as well as the ability to make inferences and draw conclusions based on the information presented.
This isn't just important for reading, of course.
Comprehension is all about making meaning, and it includes various levels of understanding, including:
- Literal
- Inferential
- Evaluative
- Critical
If you think about it, we rely on these skills on a daily basis — when we notice the stooped shoulders of a partner as they walk in the door or when we listen to the weather report and observe how heavily laden the sky is with grey clouds.
To develop those same skills in a reading context, our students need to build a variety of language skills, such as vocabulary knowledge, grammar and syntax, as well as cognitive processes, such as attention, memory and critical thinking.
So how do they get there? Let's talk strategies!
What Are Reading Comprehension Strategies?
As you well know, students don't start off being able to comprehend every single thing they read. But teaching them strategies to understand better and retain information will allow them to go from recognising individual words to understanding a range of texts.
Some common reading comprehension strategies include:
- Previewing — This is the process of skimming the text before reading it in detail to get an overall sense of what it is about.
- Activating Prior Knowledge — Students can draw on existing knowledge and experience to help them understand new information, such as a new text.
- Making Connections — This strategy focuses on teaching students to make connections between a text and their own experiences and understandings. Research into the science of reading has shown enhanced comprehension when students are able to connect new information to information they already know.
- Questioning — In this comprehension strategy, students ask and answer questions to clarify the meaning of the text and deepen their understanding. When you centre questioning activities around the familiar open-ended prompts of who, what, when, where, how, why, and which, students assert their understanding and identify any gaps in their comprehension of the text. Questions can be posed by a teacher, by their peers, or by the students themselves.
- Visualising — Visualisation provides both teachers and students with another means to extend their exploration of a text and deepen understanding. This reading comprehension strategy asks students to create and describe an image in their mind, centered around a place, situation, or character in the text. Visualising has been proven in research to improve student recall! Using the five senses is a great way to scaffold student comprehension through visualising.
- Summarising — Summarising is a reading comprehension strategy that asks students to reflect on the text and communicate their understanding of it. A well-formed summary is made up of the main idea of the text and the key details that support the main idea, showing that the student has understood what they’ve read well enough to write a summary that’s not merely a repetition of the text.
- When summarising, students may complete one or more of the following:
- Recount the text in their own words
- Identify the main idea, topic or purpose
- List key words or phrases
- Identify structural elements of the genre
- Using the SWBST process can help students with this reading comprehension strategy. The steps in the SWBST process are:
- Somebody
- Wanted
- But
- So
- Then
- When summarising, students may complete one or more of the following:
- Inferring — The process of drawing conclusions based on clues or evidence presented in the text is called inferring, and it involves readers using what they know and pairing it with what they read in the text to make a conclusion. You may also call this 'reading between lines!'
- Monitoring Comprehension — When monitoring comprehension, students reflect on and assess their understanding as they progress through the text. In this metacognitive process, students may ask themselves questions like 'Is this making sense?' or 'Do I need to read this again?'
- Some comprehension strategies that may be effective may include going back to reread a section of a text, slowing down or speeding up your reading rate, and using text features to help understand difficult parts of a passage. All of these are active reading strategies that students can do to help them better understand what they are reading, while they are reading!
- While monitoring asks students to identify hurdles and barriers, students also benefit from connecting this reading comprehension strategy with explicit strategies to help them pass their hurdles.
All of these comprehension strategies can be taught and practised explicitly.
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Visual Literacy Techniques Poster Pack
Teach your students how to uncover hidden meanings in images with this vibrant set of Visual Literacy Technique Posters!
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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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Rio de Janeiro - Reading Comprehension Activities
Take your students on a trip to Rio de Janeiro with engaging reading comprehension activities and Carnival Mask template.
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Australian Conservationists: The Irwins – Comprehension Worksheet
Learn about the Irwin family and their conservation work with this 2-page reading passage and accompanying comprehension questions.
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Story Retell Brochure Template
Explore retelling a story with this brochure template covering the major elements of a retell.
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Planet Fact File Pack with Comprehension Worksheets
Learn the facts of each of the planets in our solar system with these planet fact file sheets and accompanying comprehension worksheets.
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Let's Infer! Reading Worksheet
Boost reading comprehension with our 2-page writing worksheet that helps students practice making inferences.
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5 Finger Retell Teaching Slides
Teach your students about the 5 finger retell strategy with this set of teaching slides.
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Printable Graphic Organiser Worksheets
A collection of 14 different blank graphic organisers to use in a variety of ways in all subject areas.
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Year 4 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 4 students.
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Year 2 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically written for Year 2 students.
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Innovative Inventors - Year 4 Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Meet famous inventors in history with this informational text and comprehension questions activity
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The History of Codes - Comprehension Worksheet
Learn about the history and development of Morse code with a comprehension worksheet.
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Character Traits Posters
Remind your students about the difference between external and internal character traits with this set of three classroom posters.
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Main Idea Task Cards
Practise finding the main idea and supporting detail in a passage with these task cards.
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The Water Cycle – Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Enhance your students’ comprehension and science vocabulary skills with this water cycle worksheet.
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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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120 Comprehension Strategy Question Cards
A set of 120 open-ended question cards to help students apply comprehension strategies when reading.
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Cause and Effect Task Cards and Worksheets
Use these cause and effect task cards to help your students identify relationships between events, understand why things happen, and improve overall reading comprehension.
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In My Eyes (Poem) - Comprehension
A comprehension activity using poetry.
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Distinguish Between Fact and Opinion Worksheets
Help students distinguish between fact and opinion with this engaging zebra-themed comprehension task designed to strengthen critical thinking and reading skills.
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List of Figurative Language
Download this list of figurative language to help your students recognise, interpret and use figurative language when reading and writing.
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Reading Connections Worksheet Set
Build deep comprehension skills with this engaging Reading Connections Worksheet set.
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Science of Reading Aligned Group Folder Templates
Stay organised with these versatile Science of Reading Group Folder Templates, designed to offer plenty of options.
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Cause and Effect Comprehension Worksheets
Use these cause and effect comprehension worksheets to give your students practice reading, sequencing and matching effects to their causes.
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Book an Adventure Craft - Suitcase Book Review
Boost reading comprehension skills with a Book an Adventure Craft to engage young readers during Children’s Book Week.
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Idioms Poster
Hang this idioms poster in your classroom to give your students a reference for this important piece of figurative language.
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Signs in the Community Worksheet Set
Help young learners recognise and understand the world around them with these Signs in the Community Worksheets.
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Digital Fact or Opinion Game
Engage your class with this digital fact or opinion game where students move around the classroom to classify statements as facts or opinions.
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Making Predictions From Sentences Worksheets
Practise making predictions with sentences using this set of making predictions worksheets.
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Making Predictions Comprehension Strategy: Digital Task Cards
Enhance reading comprehension with these Making Predictions Comprehension Strategy Digital Task Cards, where students read short stories, predict what happens next, and justify their thinking using text evidence.
- Reading Comprehension Worksheets
- Reading Comprehension Templates
- Reading Comprehension Teaching Presentations
- Reading Comprehension Games
- Reading Comprehension Posters
- Reading Comprehension Flashcards
- Reading Comprehension for Foundation Year
- Reading Comprehension for Year 1
- Reading Comprehension for Year 2
- Reading Comprehension for Year 3
- Reading Comprehension for Year 4
- Reading Comprehension for Year 5
- Reading Comprehension for Year 6
- Reading Comprehension for Year 7