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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Super Six Reading Comprehension Strategies Bookmark
A bookmark displaying the Super Six reading comprehension strategies.
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Interpreting Figurative Language - Worksheets
Explore figurative language in poetry with this age-appropriate poem and accompanying vocabulary questions.
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I Have, Who Has? Fact vs Opinion Game
Engage your students with this fact vs opinion game that makes learning collaborative and fun while reinforcing critical thinking skills.
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Guided Reading Folder - Cover and Dividers
Use this collection of templates to organize your guided reading folder.
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Comprehension Strategies – Interactive PowerPoint
An engaging 44 slide interactive PowerPoint to use in the classroom when introducing comprehension strategies.
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Comprehension Keys Board Game
A fun comprehension strategy board game for students to play during literacy rotations.
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Guided Reading Groups - Comprehension Strategy Tracker
Track which comprehension strategies your students are using during guided reading sessions with this template.
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Reading Worksheets - The Business of Bees (5th Grade)
Read and learn about bees, pollination and honey production with a reading comprehension passage and worksheet pack.
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Inspirational Woman Profile: Yuna Kim – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension task to use when learning about Yuna Kim.
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King Tutankhamun - Comprehension Task
A comprehension activity about King Tutankhamun.
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The Poet's Lament - Comprehension
A comprehension activity using a poem.
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Inference vs Prediction - Presentation
A teaching presentation outlining the similarities and differences between an inference and a prediction.
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Poetry Analysis Template
A template for students to use when analyzing a poem.
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Before, During, and After Reading Worksheet
A worksheet to use when asking questions before, during, and after reading.
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Before, During and After Reading Fiction Questions - Wheel
5 different versions of wheels to use when asking questions before, during and after reading.
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Before, During and After Reading Fiction Questions - Dice
5 different versions of dice to use when asking questions before, during and after reading.
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The Gingerbread Man - Comprehension Worksheet
Develop your students' reading comprehension skills with a well-known fairy tale.
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Inference or Prediction? Worksheet
A worksheet to use when teaching your students the difference between an inference and a prediction.
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Writing Information Texts Teaching Slides
Teach your students the features of information reports using this detailed slideshow targeted at upper elementary school students.
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Inference Realtor Advertisements - Worksheet
A series of realtor advertisement worksheets to use when teaching your students how to infer information from written texts.
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Procedural Recount Text Structure Anchor Chart - With Annotations
A poster about the procedural recount text type, including an annotated example.
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Book Review Worksheet
A book review and summary card for comprehension learning.
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Reciprocal Teaching - Role Bookmarks
Remind students of their reciprocal teaching roles during guided reading groups with this set of 4 bookmarks.
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Newspaper Themed - Book Report Template and Poster
A fun newspaper themed poster with 3 book report templates to use when responding to literature.
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Reciprocal Teaching - Role Posters
Teach the 4 reciprocal teaching roles to your students with this poster set.
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Show Don’t Tell Posters – Character Feelings
Use this set of Show, Don’t Tell posters to help your students describe character emotions through vivid details instead of simple statements.
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Reading Detectives Worksheets
8 reading detective worksheets to use during book club or reading group sessions.
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Poetry Anchor Chart With Annotations
Use this poetry anchor chart to introduce your students to the structure and language features of poems through an annotated example.
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Fact and Opinion Worksheets – Cut and Paste
Use these fact and opinion worksheets to help your students identify the difference between fact statements and opinion statements.
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QAR Generic Question Cards
A set of 28 generic QAR question cards for students to use as a comprehension task after reading.
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Bloom's Taxonomy Question/Sentence Starter Cards
A set of reading question and sentence starter cards aligned with Bloom's Taxonomy.
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Comprehension Strategy Teaching Resource Pack - Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion
A comprehensive resource pack to help students learn to distinguish between fact and opinion.
- 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