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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Benjamin Franklin - Constructed Response Worksheet
Learn facts about Benjamin Franklin with an informational reading and writing activity focusing on the constructed response format.
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Character Analysis Task Cards
Get your students to perform a character analysis for any fictional character using this set of 20 task cards.
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Elements of Plot Teaching Presentation
Teach them to your students with a Plot Elements Teaching presentation.
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Nonfiction Comprehension Worksheet Pack for First Grade
Integrate science, social studies, and first grade reading comprehension skills with a group of ten nonfiction reading comprehension worksheets.
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The Pony Express Worksheet- Comprehension Passage
Teach your students how to write a constructed response paragraph and integrate grade level Social studies concepts with a free Pony Express worksheet and ten-question comprehension assessment.
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Declaration of Independence- Constructed Response Passage Worksheet
Blend reading, writing, and historical concepts with the Declaration of Independence worksheet.
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Point of View Task Cards - Beginner Set
Use these colorful, fun task cards to help your beginning reader identify first, and third-person point of view (POV)
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Idioms Bingo Game
Build vocabulary and have fun with a classroom game of Idiom Bingo.
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Write a Short Story – The Tale of Transformation
Get your students analyzing and writing a story with a lesson with this engaging and fully scaffolded writing project booklet.
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Ruby Bridges – Comprehension Task
Review our profile on 6-year-old civil rights figure Ruby Bridges, and answer questions to reinforce understanding.
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Go Figure! - Figurative Language Game
Practice working with different types of figurative language with this hands-on board game.
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Describe a Story Setting Worksheets
Download these engaging story setting worksheets that help students brainstorm descriptive language and write vivid setting descriptions with ease.
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Innovative Inventors - Comprehension Worksheet
Meet famous Black History Month figures with this informational text and comprehension questions activity.
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Finding the Theme Worksheet
Identify and explain the theme in 3 short story paragraphs provided in this worksheet.
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Critical Literacy Reading Task – To Buy or Not to Buy?
Teach critical reading skills with this engaging reading comprehension project that helps students evaluate texts and make evidence-based decisions.
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Sound Devices Sorting Activity
Reinforce sound devices used in text by sorting 16 poetic device cards into their appropriate category.
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Text Features Worksheet
Download this nonfiction text features worksheet so students can practice locating different types of text features found in a nonfiction text.
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Fiction vs Nonfiction Anchor Chart Pack
Teach students the difference between fiction and nonfiction with this set of two classroom posters perfect for Kindergarten classrooms.
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Cloze Activities Worksheet Pack
Build confidence and strengthen literacy skills with cloze activities in which students fill in missing words to create meaningful texts.
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My Mini Book Report
Have students write about their favorite literature with this fun-sized mini-book.
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Read and Roll - Comprehension Dice Game
A fun reading comprehension game to play after reading a fictional text.
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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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Sequencing Reading Comprehension Task Cards and Worksheets
Use these sequencing reading comprehension task cards to help your students identify, organize and retell events in the correct order when reading various texts.
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Character Development – Fakebook Page Worksheet
Use research and creative writing skills to design a social media profile for fiction or nonfiction persons.
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In My Eyes (Poem) - Poetry Reading Comprehension Activity
Practice analyzing poetry with this poem and set of comprehension questions.
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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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Note-taking Graphic Organizer
A graphic organizer for students to use when taking notes.
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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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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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Real Estate Listing Inference Worksheets
Support comprehension with inference worksheets that guide students in interpreting real estate descriptions and justifying their ideas with clear textual evidence.
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Compare and Contrast - Venn Diagram Template
A template to use when teaching students how to compare and contrast.
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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.
- 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