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 Features Flashcards
Teach students the definitions of text features such as headings, sidebars, captions and many more with this set of flashcards for elementary students.
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Literary Element Task Cards - Upper Elementary
Explore the wonders of children's literature with this set of 14 literature study task cards for upper elementary students.
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Character Development Worksheet Pack
Download this character development worksheet pack to help students understand how motivations, challenges and choices shape a character’s growth.
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Primary Weekly Poetry Guide - Week 3
Use this weekly poetry guide to celebrate National Poetry Month in your primary classroom.
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The Troll Poem and Task Cards
A poem and set of task cards about a Troll.
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K-9ine the Robot Dog - Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a persuasive magazine advertisement.
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Digital Warriors: Social Footprints – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a comic about being safe when sharing photos on digital platforms.
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Human Histories: Helpful Heroes – Comprehension Worksheet
A worksheet paired with an article about people around the world who have dedicated their lives to helping others.
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Book Character Profile - Stage and Curtains
A fun character profile worksheet set on a theater stage.
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Comic – Peer Politics: In Sync – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a comic about encouraging people and their passions regardless of their gender.
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Comic – Superfoods: What's for Lunch? – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a comic about the importance of eating a healthy lunch.
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10 Fascinating Facts About Mauna Kea – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with an article about Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
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Comic – Healthy Body, Healthy Mind: Find Your Sport – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a comic about all types of sports.
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Human Histories: Amazing Artists – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a magazine article about four amazing artists.
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Plot Elements Worksheet - "The Gift of Magi"
Using the companion text “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, students will diagram the narrative structure of the story on the included plot elements worksheet.
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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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Book Review Paper Fortune Teller
A fun paper fortune teller template to help your students to review a book or narrative text.
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First But Not Last – Comprehension Task
An article about historic women paired with a comprehension task.
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10 Fascinating Facts Worksheet – The Global Seed Vault
A comprehension worksheet paired with a magazine article about the global seed vault.
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Oppressive Governments – Comprehension Task
A comprehension task paired with a text about oppressive governments in history.
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Advertisement Worksheet – Milton Mentor
A comprehension worksheet for a persuasive magazine advertisement.
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Figurative Language - SCOOT! Task Cards
Explore figurative language in multiple ways with the set of 24 task cards.
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Character Traits Graphic Organizer
Describe the most notable mental and moral qualities of a real or fictional person.
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Reading Response Templates - Complete Journal
A reading response journal for students to use to engage with text in meaningful and purposeful ways.
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Drama Vocabulary Flash Cards
A set of 16 flash cards to practice defining the different elements of a drama.
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New Year's Celebrations - Comprehension Worksheet
Learn about the origins of New Year’s celebrations with our informational text and comprehension questions worksheet.
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Martin Luther King, Jr. - Comprehension Task
Apply a range of reading comprehension strategies to learn about Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Read Across a Story Template
Practice summarizing a fictional text with this flipbook template.
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Grade 6 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 6 magazine.
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Economic Interdependence – Comprehension Task
A comprehension task paired with a text about economic interdependence.
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Astronaut Book Report Template
Use this printable book report template for students as a guide when reviewing their favorite book.
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Fox Book Report Template
A fun fox book report template for your students to use when giving their opinion of a book.
- 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