Reading Comprehension Teaching Resources
Explore printable worksheets, digital activities and more to teach reading comprehension strategies and skills in your elementary classroom. Created by teachers, for teachers, the teaching resources in this collection are curriculum-aligned 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 a variety of options to make lesson planning easier this school year so your students will be able to identify the main idea of a text, draw inferences, remember key details and more.
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!
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 elementary 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 recognize and understand individual words, but it also involves the ability to recognize patterns and relationships within sentences and paragraphs.
On top of that is the ability to make inferences and draw conclusions based on the information presented.
Yes, there's a lot packed in there!
How to Teach Reading Comprehension
To develop reading comprehension, students need 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 you teach reading comprehension? Like many of those foundational skills we teach in elementary grades, this isn't something kids learn in a single lesson, unit or even one school year.
Teaching reading comprehension is going to stretch from kindergarten and first grade all the way through the rest of a child's academic career (at least on the pre-college levels).
That said, here are some activities to make use of as you approach teaching reading comprehension as an elementary teacher:
- Pre-Reading Activities — Brainstorming, KWL charts, prediction exercises and other "pre-reading" activities will help your students activate their prior knowledge, build background knowledge and set a purpose for reading. These are all key to developing their comprehension.
- During-Reading Strategies — Teaching your students to ask questions, summarize, visualize and make connections will give students the know-how they need to monitor their comprehension as they read.
- Post-Reading Activities — Reading comprehension doesn't stop when kids get to the last page of a text. It's only just beginning. That's why it's important to make sure your lesson plans include activities that help students deepen their understanding of the text and develop critical thinking skills. Examples of post-reading activities that can help build these skills include discussions, debates and written responses.
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Text Structures Slide Deck
An editable text structure instructional slide deck to use when teaching text structures to your students.
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Poetry Task Cards
A set of 20 task cards to practice different elements of peotry.
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Writing With Alliteration Worksheet
Identify and create alliteration patterns in texts.
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What Does It Really Mean? - Hyperbole Task Cards
Identify and interpret hyperboles used in sentences.
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Grade 3 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 Grade 3 magazine.
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Grade 4 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 Grade 4 "What's Buzzing?" magazine.
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Novel Study Worksheet Pack
Download this set of novel study worksheets that can be used with any text to support your students in exploring characters and events in literature.
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Brilliant, Brave Minds – Comprehension Task
An article and comprehension task celebrating women and Women's History Month.
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Onomatopoeia Poster
A poster providing a definition and examples of onomatopoeia.
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Primary Weekly Poetry Guide - Week 2
Use this weekly poetry guide to celebrate National Poetry Month in your primary classroom.
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Alliteration Poster For Young Students
A poster to use with young students when teaching alliteration.
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Primary Weekly Poetry Guide - Week 1
Use this weekly poetry guide to celebrate National Poetry Month in your primary classroom.
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Springtime Blooms – Comprehension Task
An article about springtime blooms and festivals paired with a comprehension task.
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Nonfiction Text Features: Match It Up!
Download this nonfiction text features game to teach elementary school students about the common text features of informational texts.
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Sound Devices Sorting Activity
Reinforce sound devices used in text by sorting 16 poetic device cards into their appropriate category.
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Inspirational Woman Profile: Jessica Watson – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension task to use when learning about Jessica Watson.
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Narrative Texts Teaching Slides
Teach your students the features of narrative texts using this detailed slideshow targeted at upper elementary school students.
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Crabbing at Night – Sequencing Worksheet
Identify the story beginning, series of events and ending with this narrative text sequencing activity.
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Descriptive Writing Poster
A poster outlining the main points and structure of a descriptive text.
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Fiction vs Nonfiction Anchor Chart Pack
Teach students the difference between fiction and nonfiction with this set of two classroom posters perfect for Kindergarten classrooms.
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Poetic Devices Teaching Slides
Explore examples of poetic devices using this comprehensive and age-appropriate slide deck perfect for your poetry writing unit.
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Inferring Written Scenario Task Cards
Task cards that help students use their knowledge and ideas to help them decode ideas in texts.
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Informative Paragraphs Sequencing Activity
Teach your students about informational text paragraph structure with this hands-on sequencing activity.
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Comprehension - Pet Rescue
A fun script and set of questions to help students develop reading and comprehension strategies.
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Sporting Picture Stories - Sequencing Activity
A set of sequencing cards for students to use as an independent writing activity.
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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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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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Sequencing - Events Worksheet
A worksheet to use when teaching students how to sequence important events when reading.
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Exploring Informational Texts Teaching Slides
Teach your students how to write an informational text using this detailed slideshow targeted at lower elementary school students.
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Hansel and Gretel – Comprehension Worksheet
Develop your students' reading comprehension skills with a well-known fairy tale.
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Improving Opinion Texts Worksheets
3 pieces of text for students to rewrite in order to make them more persuasive.
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Sequencing Worksheets Bundle (Why Bears Have Stumpy Tails)
Print a sequencing worksheet for 1st or 2nd grade with an engaging bear story! Give students practice identifying the story beginning, series of events and ending.
- Reading Comprehension Worksheets
- Reading Comprehension Templates
- Reading Comprehension Games
- Reading Comprehension Posters
- Reading Comprehension Flashcards
- Reading Comprehension for Pre-K
- Reading Comprehension for Kindergarten
- Reading Comprehension for 1st Grade
- Reading Comprehension for 2nd Grade
- Reading Comprehension for 3rd Grade
- Reading Comprehension for 4th Grade
- Reading Comprehension for 5th Grade
- Reading Comprehension for 6th Grade