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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The Pony Express Worksheet- Comprehension Passage
Teach your students how to write a constructed response paragraph and integrate grade level Social studies concepts with a free Pony Express worksheet and ten-question comprehension assessment.
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Paired Passage Worksheets-Mammals vs. Reptiles
Compare mammals vs. reptiles and add to your reading instruction with leveled nonfiction, compare and contrast passages and worksheets.
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Summer Reading Challenge Calendar
Inspire your students to read during the summer with a versatile reading challenge.
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Black History Profile: Shirley Chisholm - Comprehension Worksheet
Review our profile on Congresswoman and first Black presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm, and answer questions to reinforce understanding.
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10 Fascinating Facts About Beaches – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a magazine article about beaches.
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Reading Response Template – Making Connections
Practice making connections with a piece of text with this one-page template.
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Cause and Effect - Scenario Worksheet
A worksheet and answer sheet to use when teaching students the about the cause and effect text structure.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Distinguishing Between Fiction and Nonfiction
A set of comprehension task cards to help students distinguish between fiction and nonfiction when reading.
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Movie Versus Book - Template
A template where students compare and review a movie and a book and construct a 3-D popcorn box.
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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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Compare and Contrast Text Structures Worksheets
Build students’ reading comprehension and critical thinking skills with this Compare and Contrast Texts Activity Pack.
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Fiction and Nonfiction Visual Literacy Cards
Help students sharpen their ability to interpret, analyse, and think critically about images in texts with this engaging set of visual literacy cards.
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Why? Because Question Scene Cards
Support both oral language development and English visual text comprehension with these Why? Because Question Scene Cards.
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Comparing and Contrasting Texts Graphic Organizers
Support students in comparing and contrasting texts with this versatile set of graphic organizers designed to deepen comprehension and enhance classroom discussions.
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Objective and Subjective Language Digital Quiz
Spark deeper thinking about objective and subjective language with this interactive digital quiz that helps students distinguish between fact, opinion and biased opinion in real-world texts.
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2nd Grade Hurricane Worksheets - Reading Comprehension
Read and learn about hurricanes with our 2nd Grade Hurricane Worksheets resource pack.
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Author's Purpose Sentence Stem Flashcards
Assist students in identifying the author’s purpose with this set of Author’s Purpose Sentence Stem flashcards.
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Author’s Purpose Graphic Organizer Pack
Explore the purpose of an author's writing with these Author's Purpose Graphic Organizers.
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Fix-Up Strategies in Reading Flipbook
Explore different fix up strategies with your students using this Fix Up Strategies in Reading Flipbook template.
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Monitor and Clarify Reading Strategy Digital Task Cards
Help students gain more practice in monitoring while reading using these Monitoring and Clarifying Reading Strategy Practice digital task cards.
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Making Predictions from Sentences Worksheets
Practice making predictions with sentences using this set of making predictions worksheets.
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Making Predictions Assessment – Interactive Game
Assess predicting skills with this Making Predictions Assessment digital quiz.
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Making Predictions Sentence Starters Flashcards
Use these Making Predictions Sentence Starters Flashcards to guide students in making accurate predictions using prompts.
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Making Predictions Worksheet Set
Build early comprehension skills with these Making Predictions Worksheets that include age-appropriate activities using pictures, sentence starters, and simple texts.
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Making Predictions Anchor Chart Pack
Support student learning with these Making Predictions Anchor Charts explaining when and how to make predictions.
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Making Predictions Graphic Organizer Pack
Enhance reading comprehension by using these Making Predictions Graphic Organizer templates in your classroom.
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Predictions in Reading Comprehension Task
Help students to engage with prediction during reading with this predictions in reading comprehension task.
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Making Predictions PowerPoint
Use this Making Predictions PowerPoint to engage students in the learning of predicting during reading.
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Story Structure Sentence Strips
Explore sentences that form the beginning, middle and end of 5 short stories with this sorting activity for younger year levels.
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3rd Grade States of Matter - Reading Worksheets
Teach science and reading skills with a set of printable 3rd Grade Reading Worksheets about the 3 states of matter.
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The Olympic Games - Reading Comprehension Task
Encourage students to apply a range of comprehension and writing skills when finding out interesting fun facts about the Olympics with a printable reading comprehension worksheet pack.
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Paired Passage Worksheets - Thunderstorms (3-4)
Use paired passages to help your student practice applying reading comprehension strategies.
- 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
- Reading Comprehension for 7th Grade