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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The Troll Poem and Task Cards
A poem and set of task cards about a Troll.
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Setting-Plot Relationship Worksheet
A worksheet that explores the connections between setting and plot.
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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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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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Making Connections Graphic Organizer
A graphic organizer for students to record text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections.
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Brilliant, Brave Minds – Comprehension Task
An article and comprehension task celebrating women and Women's History Month.
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Alliteration Poem Poster
A poster providing a definition and example of an alliteration poem.
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Alliteration Poster For Young Students
A poster to use with young students when teaching alliteration.
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What's the Author's Purpose? - Sorting Activity
A sorting activity to help students identify the author’s purpose for a piece of text.
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Nonfiction Text Features: Match It Up!
Download this nonfiction text features game to teach elementary school students about the common text features of informational texts.
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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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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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Comprehension - The Great Wall of China
A comprehension activity about The Great Wall of China.
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Analyzing Poetry PowerPoint
A 19 slide editable PowerPoint template the use when teaching students how to analyze poetry.
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Cause and Effect - Sentence Sort Worksheet
A worksheet and answer sheet to use when teaching students the cause and effect comprehension strategy.
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Sequencing Text - Worksheet
A worksheet to use when teaching students how to understand sequence when reading.
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Making Predictions - Recording Card
A template for students to make predictions with a piece of text.
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Figurative Language Anchor Chart - Onomatopoeia
Help young readers and writers recognize figurative language and onomatopoeia with a set of onomatopoeia anchor charts.
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Independence Day - Word Wall
Teach your students about the Fourth of July and inspire them to read and write with an illustrated Fourth of July Word Wall.
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Alliteration Poster
A poster providing a definition and examples of alliteration.
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Activating Prior Knowledge - Comprehension Strategy Task Cards
A set of 12 task cards to help students activate their prior knowledge before reading.
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Comprehension - That's Not My Pet
A fun script and set of questions to help students develop reading and comprehension strategies.
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Sophia the Superdog! - Comprehension Text and Questions
A superdog themed text and set of questions to help develop comprehension strategies in the classroom.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Recognizing Cause And Effect
A set of comprehension task cards to help students recognize cause and effect when reading.
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Interpret Figurative Language Poster
Provide students with a visual reminder of the types of figurative language with this classroom display poster.
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Reading Comprehension Strategies PowerPoint - Monitoring
A 14 slide editable PowerPoint template explaining the reading comprehension strategy of monitoring.
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Reading Comprehension Strategies PowerPoint - Predicting
A 14 slide editable PowerPoint template explaining the reading comprehension strategy of predicting.
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How to Wash Your Hands - Sequencing Cards
A set of 8 cards showing the steps for how to wash your hands properly
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Literacy Task Cards - Find Your Treasure
Use this set of 16 treasure-inspired literature task cards with any literary text!
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Cause and Effect - Comprehension Task
A task to use when teaching your students reading comprehension strategies.
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Character Emotions Worksheet
Make inferences about character's feelings with this one-page worksheet.
- Reading Comprehension Worksheets
- Reading Comprehension Templates
- Reading Comprehension Posters
- Reading Comprehension Games
- 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
- Reading Comprehension for 7th Grade