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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Compare and Contrast - Objects Worksheets
A pack of 5 worksheets comparing and contrasting pictures of similar objects.
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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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Little Red Riding Hood – Comprehension Worksheet
Develop your students' reading comprehension skills with a well-known fairy tale.
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Inference Car Classifieds - Worksheet
A series of car classifieds worksheets to use when teaching your students how to to make inferences when reading.
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Prediction vs Inference Teaching Slides
Use this prediction vs inference teaching presentation to help your students tell the difference between these two essential reading comprehension strategies.
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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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Who’s the Audience? Digital Activity
Use this Who’s the Audience? Activity when discussing and identifying the purpose and audience of a variety of different community signs and texts.
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Inferring During Reading PowerPoint
Build strong comprehension skills with this engaging Inferring During Reading PowerPoint.
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Inference Clip Cards Activity
Use this set of inference peg cards to have students practice looking at an image and making an inference based on prior knowledge.
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Inference Cut and Paste Worksheet
Use this cut-and-paste worksheet to practice inferring using images with your early reader.
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Predicting and Inferring Poster Set - Early Grades
Use this simple set of Making Predictions and Inferencing posters to help students understand and learn the difference between these two important reading skills.
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Making and Checking Prediction Graphic Organizer Pack
Use these making and checking predictions templates with your early years students to help with predictions before, during and after reading.
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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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Inferencing With Pictures Digital Activity
Use this inferencing with pictures digital activity when encouraging students to use their inferencing skills.
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Making Inferences Picture Cards Activity
Use these Making Inference picture cards activity to match text with images and infer meaning using visual details.
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Story Elements Flipbook
Teach your students about story elements with this double-sided flipbook.
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Information Report Text Examples and Worksheet Pack
Use this set of 5 information report text examples and 2 targeted worksheets to support your students in breaking down and understanding informative writing.
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Westward Expansion Reading Comprehension Worksheet Pack
Enhance your students' close reading strategies, vocabulary, and writing skills with a Westward Expansion reading comprehension worksheet pack.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt Worksheet Pack - Comprehension
Use this Franklin D. Roosevelt Worksheet Pack to seamlessly blend your U.S. History and reading comprehension lessons.
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Main Idea Cut and Paste Worksheet Set
Use these Main Idea cut and paste worksheets with students to learn about the main idea and details in a paragraph.
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Finding the Main Idea Worksheet Set
Use these finding the main idea in text worksheets to allow your students to practice finding the main idea.
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Persuasive Texts and Analysis Worksheets - 2nd Grade
Help your 2nd grade students learn how different texts are organised and why they are written with this persuasive texts analysis activity pack.
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Opinion Writing Examples and Analysis Worksheet
Use these opinion writing examples to teach your students how purpose, structure and language features work together in strong persuasive texts.
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The Effects of Urban Lighting Worksheet Pack
Read and learn about the impact of light pollution with our Effects of Urban Lighting Worksheet Pack.
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All About Cats - 1st Grade Reading Comprehension Passage
Explore informational text and learn all about cats and their external features with a printable 1st grade reading comprehension passage.
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Adapt a Short Story – Change the Complication
Explore the role the complication of a story plays within narrative structure with this engaging and fully scaffolded writing project booklet.
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Write a Short Story – The Quest
Get your students analyzing and writing a quest story with this engaging and fully scaffolded writing project booklet.
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Write a Short Story – Adventure in Space
Get your students analyzing and writing adventure in space stories with this engaging and fully scaffolded writing project booklet.
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Character and Setting Connections Cut-and-Paste Pack
Explore the connection between characters and settings with this cut and paste activity pack.
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Concepts About Print Teaching Slides
Learn about the different elements of both print and digital print with this set of teaching slides.
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Comparing Assertions Worksheet Pack
Get your students to compare assertions with this engaging set of worksheets designed to help students distinguish between strong and weak persuasive writing.
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Types of Assertions Sorting Activity
Explore types of assertions with this interactive sorting activity that helps students distinguish between bare, generalized and supported assertions.
- 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