Reading Passages Teaching Resources
Explore reading passages ready to be used in your primary classroom to assess your students' comprehension skills and build their confidence as readers!
Created by teachers for teachers, each reading passage in this extensive collection has been designed to enhance student comprehension skills and build understanding. This collection of Australian English curriculum-aligned comprehension passages was created by the teachers on the Teach Starter team, and each has undergone a review by an expert on our team to ensure it’s ready for your classroom.
Not sure where to begin? Here’s a quick primer from our teacher team to help you get the most out of this teacher tool!
What Are Reading Passages?
Reading passages are a set of written texts that are typically used for reading comprehension exercises and assessments. They can come in various forms, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama. They are used to provide a text for students to read and analyse and are often accompanied by questions or tasks to assess comprehension, vocabulary, grammar and other language skills.
How to Use Reading Passages in the Classroom
This collection of short reading passages can be used for a variety of needs, including:
- Practising reading fluency
- Provide students with practise in reading comprehension and critical thinking skills
- Measuring students’ reading level
- Exposing students to different genres, authors and writing styles
Best of all? Teach Starter's reading passages have been developed so they can be used for individual or group activities.
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Sequencing Activity - Homework is Unnecessary (Persuasive Text)
A sequencing task using a persuasive text.
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The Olympic Games - Comprehension Task
A comprehension task that encourages students to apply a range of comprehension skills when finding out interesting fun facts about the Olympics.
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Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion - Comprehension Task
A task to use when teaching your students reading comprehension strategies.
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Sequencing Activity - Dogs Make the Best Pets (Persuasive Text) - Simplified Version
A sequencing task using a simple persuasive text.
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Year 5 Reading Worksheets - The Business of Bees
Read and learn about bees, pollination and honey production with a reading comprehension passage and worksheet pack.
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Arctic Fox Adaptations - Free Comprehension Worksheets
Read and learn about Arctic fox adaptations with a set of free Reading Comprehension Worksheets for Years 2 and 3.
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Paired Passage Worksheets-Mammals vs. Reptiles
Compare mammals vs. reptiles and add to your reading instruction with leveled nonfiction, compare and contrast passages, and worksheets.
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Year 2 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically written for Year 2 students.
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Mars vs. Earth - Differentiated Paired Passage Worksheets
Learn about the planets with differentiated compare and contrast passages, activities and writing opportunities.
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Figurative Language PowerPoint
Explore figurative language with your students using this comprehensive teaching presentation.
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Decodable Text Worksheets - Single Graphemes (Set 1)
A set of 10 decodable text worksheets for early readers.
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The Three Little Pigs – Comprehension Worksheet
Develop your students' reading comprehension skills with a well-known fairy tale.
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Malala Yousafzai Biography – Read and Respond Worksheet
A comprehension activity related to a biographical text.
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Comprehension - What are Earthquakes?
A comprehension activity about 'What are Earthquakes?'
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Free Desert Animal Adaptations Worksheets - Comprehension
Discover desert animal adaptations with a printable reading comprehension worksheet pack for Grade 4.
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The Moon Landing - Historical Recount Structure Sorting Task
A sorting task to help students learn about the structure of a historical recount.
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Sloth Adaptations – Comprehension Skills Worksheet
Read and comprehend nonfiction text about the adaptations of a sloth with a printable pack of reading skills worksheets.
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Recess Rules: True Friends – Worksheet
Learn about being a good friend while also brushing up on those reading comprehension skills with this comic strip activity.
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Year 2 Magazine – What’s Buzzing? (Issue 2)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 2 students.
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Comprehension - Should Smart Phones be Allowed in Classrooms?
Decide if cellphones should be allowed in class and boost comprehension skills with a reading passage and comprehension test.
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Elements of Poetry PowerPoint - Year 5 and Year 6
A 25 slide editable PowerPoint template to use when introducing students to the elements of poetry.
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Year 4 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 4 students.
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How Does Water Get to Our Taps? – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for an information report from the Year 2 magazine (Issue 2).
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Sequencing Activity - Stop Polluting The Ocean (Persuasive Text) - Simplified Version
A sequencing task using a simple persuasive text.
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Comprehension - Thunderstorms
A comprehension activity using an information text about thunderstorms.
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Comprehension - Tia's Tantrum
A comprehension activity using a narrative text.
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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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Understanding Sequence - Comprehension Task
A task to use when teaching your students reading comprehension strategies.
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Narrative Paragraphs Sequencing Activity
6 jumbled narrative paragraphs for students to sequence in the correct order.
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Elements of Poetry Workbook
Explore the wonders of poetry with this set of poems and accompanying worksheets designed specifically for children.
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Extreme Environments: Lands of Ice and Sand – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for an information report from the Year 4 magazine (Issue 3).
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60 Comprehension Strategy Task Cards
A 144 page comprehension resource pack to help students apply comprehension strategies when reading.