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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Character Profile - Graphic Organizers
Explore the internal and external traits of story characters with a set of differentiated graphic organizers.
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Main Idea and Details Mini-Book
Practice identifying the main idea and supporting ideas in a variety of texts by completing this mini-book.
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Comparing Characters - Graphic Organizers
Encourage your students to compare story characters with this set of differentiated graphic organisers that can be used with any text.
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Internal and External Character Traits - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Explore the internal and external traits of story characters with this differentiated cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Character Appearance, Traits and Feelings - Worksheet
Explore and describe a character's personality, feelings and appearance with this differentiated worksheet to be used with any text.
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Story Characters - Mini Book
Teach your little learners about the various types of story characters with this fun-sized mini-book.
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Exploring Story Characters - Worksheets
Explore the defining features of story characters with this differentiated worksheet.
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Character or Not? - Sorting Activity
Explore the difference between characters and non-characters with this hands-on sorting activity.
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Character or Not? - Interactive Activity
Explore the difference between characters and non-characters with this digital learning activity.
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Character or Not? Cut and Paste Worksheet
Explore the difference between characters and non-characters with this cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Character or Not? - Coloring Worksheet
Explore the difference between characters and non-characters with this coloring worksheet.
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Inherited and Acquired Plant Traits - Reading Passage
Read and learn about inherited and acquired traits in plants with a printable reading comprehension passage and worksheet.
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Main Idea Kettle Writing Template
Create a cute kettle template to help students understands the main idea and supporting detail while reading.
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Finding the Main Idea - Comprehension Task (Thunderstorms)
Explore thunderstorms and consolidate knowledge of the main idea and supporting details of a text with this comprehension task.
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Main Idea Ice Cream Cones Sorting Activity
Practice distinguishing the main idea and the supporting detail with this fun ice cream sorting activity.
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Main Idea and Details Burger Template
Practice finding the main idea and supporting details of a piece of text with this hamburger template.
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Main Idea Exit Tickets
Check for understanding of the main idea and supporting detail with these exit tickets.
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Main Idea and Supporting Details Bookmarks
Learn about how to find the main idea and supporting detail in texts with these printable bookmarks.
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Plant and Animal Adaptations - Comprehension Worksheets
Boost reading comprehension skills with a comprehension passage, with questions, about structural, behavioral and physiological adaptations.
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Story Settings - Flipbook
Teach your students about story settings with this hands-on flipbook.
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Finding the Main Idea in a Literary Text Worksheet
Find the main idea and supporting story clues of a literary text passage and answer the premise comprehension questions.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Finding The Main Idea
A set of comprehension task cards to help students find the main idea when reading.
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Main Idea and Details Anchor Chart
Print a main idea anchor chart for primary grades to build skills in identifying main idea and details in nonfiction texts.
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What's the Main Idea? Worksheet-Graphic Organizer
Help students work out the main idea and supporting detail of a text with a handy main idea worksheet.
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Story Settings - Graphic Organizers
Encourage your students to write and draw about story settings with this set of differentiated graphic organizers.
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Story Settings - Brochure Template
Encourage your students to identify story settings in the books they read with this brochure template.
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Story Setting or Not? - Sorting Activity
Explore the difference between story settings and non-settings with this hands-on sorting activity.
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Story Beginning, Middle, and End - Graphic Organizer
Help your students write and draw about the beginning, middle and end of stories with this set of differentiated graphic organizers.
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Beginning, Middle and End Mini-Book - Itsy Bitsy Spider
Teach your students about the beginning, middle and end of a story with mini-book retelling of The Itsy Bitsy Spider.
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Beginning, Middle and End Mini-Book - Jack Around Town
Teach your students about the beginning, middle and end of a story with this narrative mini-book.
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Story Elements: Sequencing Jack Be Nimble
Teach your students the art of sequencing with an instructional slide deck surrounding the Jack Be Nimble nursery rhyme.
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The New Seven Wonders of the World - Mini-Book
Explore the wonders and delights of the new Seven Wonders of the World with this informative mini-book.
- Reading Comprehension Worksheets
- Reading Comprehension Templates
- Reading Comprehension Posters
- Reading Comprehension Games
- 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