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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Before, During and After Reading Non-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 Nonfiction – Question Prompts
Question prompts and a worksheet to use when asking questions before, during, and after reading.
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Exploring Narrative Texts Teaching Slides
A 20 slide editable PowerPoint template to use when teaching younger students about the structure of narrative texts.
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Character Emotions Worksheet
Make inferences about character's feelings with this one-page worksheet.
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Reading Detectives Name Tags
8 colorful reading detective name tags to assign students during book club sessions.
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Reading Detectives Resource Pack
A 16-page resource pack including 8 detective roles to assign to students during book clubs or reading group sessions.
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Compare and Contrast Reading Comprehension Task
Help students strengthen their compare and contrast reading comprehension skills by reading an engaging passage about cats and dogs.
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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 Groups - Comprehension Strategy Tracker
Track which comprehension strategies your students are using during guided reading sessions with this template.
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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 - Question Prompts
Question prompts and 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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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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Reading Detectives Worksheets
8 reading detective worksheets to use during book club or reading group sessions.
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Image Detective Task Cards
Support young learners as they learn to combine text and images to build meaning with this engaging set of Image Detective task cards.
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Haiku Poem Resource Pack
Explore nine nature‑themed poems, including Sun Haiku, Cloud Haiku, Tree Haiku and more, with this Haiku Resource Pack.
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Making Connections with Literacy Texts Pack
Use this Making Connections to Literary Texts Pack to help students deepen their comprehension by linking stories to their own experiences, other texts, and the world around them.
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Text Purpose Maze Worksheet Set
Use these Text Purpose Mazes to guide students through fun, color‑coded pathways where they read short text titles and decide whether each one aims to inform, to entertain, or to persuade.
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Making Art and Craft – Procedure Writing Project
Get your students to create a high-quality procedural text that teaches others how to make an art or craft creation using this fully scaffolded writing project booklet.
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Deceptive Advertising Examples and Analysis Worksheets
Download these deceptive advertising examples and accompanying worksheets to help your students identify deceptive techniques, analyze persuasive language, and become more informed consumers.
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Procedural Text Examples and Analysis Worksheet
Use these procedural text examples with accompanying analysis worksheets to teach your students about the purpose, structure and language features of procedural writing.
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Imaginative and Informative Picture Match Activity
This engaging visual literacy activity invites students to explore how images communicate meaning by matching imaginative and informative pictures.
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Imaginative vs Informative PowerPoint
Build strong comprehension skills with this engaging Imaginative vs Informative Texts PowerPoint.
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Story vs Opinion Cut and Sort Pack
Help students understand the difference between a story sentence and an opinion sentence with this cut and paste worksheet set.
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Imaginative vs Informative Book Bins Digital Activity
Use this imaginative vs informative book bins digital activity to help students explore the difference between these types of texts.
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Critical Literacy Reading Task – Save Maple Park!
Teach critical reading skills with this engaging reading comprehension project that helps students analyze perspectives, evaluate arguments and justify opinions.
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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 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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Digital Predicting Story Activity
Use this digital story of The Muddy Dog and matching prediction worksheets to explore how to make predictions before, during and after a story as a class.
- 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