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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World War II for Kids - Mini Book
Build vocabulary and understanding of the causes, events, and outcomes of WW2 with a printable mini book and comprehension questions.
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Characteristics of an Environment – Worksheet
Enhance your students’ comprehension and science skills by learning about the physical characteristics of different environments and how they support populations within an ecosystem.
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Irma Rangel Constructed Response Worksheet
Use this Irma Rangel worksheet and writing prompt to help students write a paragraph using text evidence.
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Henry Ford Mini Book
Provide students with cross-curricular social studies and reading instruction with a printable Henry Ford for Kids mini book.
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Clara Barton Passage and Comprehension Worksheets
Uncover facts about Clara Barton with a reading passage and worksheet pack to practice comprehension, character analysis, and sequencing.
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Character Anchor Charts - Traits, Feelings, and Appearances
A set of 3 posters depicting words and phrases that can be used to describe a character traits, feelings and appearance.
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Life Without Tacos – Comprehension Passage Task
A reading passage about cultural diffusion paired with a comprehension worksheet.
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The Bill of Rights Simplified - Cloze Passage
Build vocabulary and understanding of the U.S. Constitution with a fill-in-the-blank cloze passage on the Bill of Rights.
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Our Solar System - Interactive and Printable Cloze Reading Activity
Practice and review concepts associated with the solar system using a cloze passage.
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton - Differentiated Comprehension Worksheets
Learn fun facts about Elizabeth Cady Stanton with a differentiated comprehension passage and assessment.
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Susan B. Anthony Worksheet Pack - Comprehension
Learn fun facts about Susan B. Anthony with a differentiated Susan B. Anthony Worksheet Pack.
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Who Was John Adams? Mini Book
Learn fun facts about John Adams with a print-and-go informative mini book.
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Harriet Tubman Comprehension Worksheet
Uncover facts about Harriet Tubman with a Reading Passage and Comprehension worksheet.
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Reading Comprehension Strategies Anchor Charts
Provide young readers with concrete examples of reading strategies with a set of 18 ready-made reading anchor charts.
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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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The Women's Rights Movement Worksheets - Comprehension
Read, write, and discover facts about the women’s rights movement with a reading passage and comprehension worksheet pack.
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The Changing Seasons Comprehension Worksheets
Read and write about the changing seasons with a comprehension passage and worksheet.
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Halloween Worksheet — Bat Facts and Opinions
Practice identifying facts and opinions with a Halloween worksheet activity about bats.
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Google Slides Interactive - Idioms Activity
Build vocabulary and have fun with an interactive Idioms activity.
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Women's Suffrage - Differentiated Comprehension Worksheets
Integrate reading, writing, and American history with a differentiated comprehension passage and worksheet about Women’s Suffrage.
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Monster Book Report Template
A cute monster-themed book report template.
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Ocean Mini Book
Learn about ocean life with a printable book for preschoolers, kindergartners, and first-graders.
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The French and Indian War - Cloze Activity
Build vocabulary and understanding of the French and Indian War with a cloze reading passage worksheet.
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The French and Indian War - Passage and Graphic Organizer
Reveal another chapter in American History with a reading passage and graphic organizer worksheet on the French and Indian War.
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Community Helpers: Police Officer – Comprehension Worksheet
Kick off a study of community helpers with a decodable police officer reading passage and comprehension worksheet.
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Community Helpers: Firefighter – Comprehension Worksheet
Kick off Fire Prevention Week this October with a decodable firefighter reading passage and comprehension worksheet.
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All About Soldiers - Building Background and Comprehension Worksheets
Learn about Veterans Day with a group of six worksheets that build background and comprehension skills.
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Problem and Solution Interactive Clip Cards
Practice identifying problems and solutions with an interactive clip card activity.
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Prose, Poetry, and Drama Teaching Presentation
Teach your students the difference between poetry, prose, and drama with an interactive Google Slides teaching presentation.
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The Boston Massacre Reading and Writing Worksheets
Integrate Reading and Social Studies content with a set of Boston Massacre worksheets.
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The Intolerable Acts Worksheets
Practice close reading strategies, vocabulary, and writing skills with an Intolerable Acts worksheet and writing prompt.
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Boston Tea Party Worksheet Pack
Enhance your students' close reading strategies, vocabulary, and writing skills with a Boston Tea Party reading passage and accompanying activities.
- 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