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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Comprehension Strategies – Interactive PowerPoint
An engaging 44 slide interactive PowerPoint to use in the classroom when introducing comprehension strategies.
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Kangaroo Adaptations – Reading Comprehension PDF Worksheets
Discover amazing kangaroo adaptations with a printable Reading comprehension worksheet pack.
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Color-Coding Summarizing Fiction Text Worksheets
Practice summarizing small fiction texts with this fun color-coding set of worksheets.
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Nonfiction Text Features Flipbook – Read and Define
Use this text features flipbook as a reading center activity to teach your students about the purpose of text features in nonfiction books.
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Making Inferences Teaching Slides
Teach your students how to make inferences with this 31-slide teaching presentation.
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Inferencing Comics
Use this set of comic strips when teaching your students how to infer information from everyday situations.
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Grade 3 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically written for Grade 3 students.
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Nonfiction Summary Checklist
Give your students a checklist when summarizing nonfiction texts to make sure they include everything required.
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Character Appearance, Traits and Feelings - Worksheet
Explore and describe a character's personality, feelings and appearance with this differentiated worksheet to be used with any text.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Finding The Main Idea
A set of comprehension task cards to help students find the main idea when reading.
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Exploring Opinion Pieces PowerPoint - Grade 1 and Grade 2
A 35 slide editable PowerPoint template to use when teaching your students about the structure and language features of opinion pieces.
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The Moon – Reading Passage and Response Sheet
Engage your students with a high-interest reading passage about the moon with this informative article and accompanying response sheet.
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Elements of Poetry - Instructional Slide Deck
Investigate poetic elements with an interactive Elements of Poetry teaching slide deck.
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Figurative Language Football Interactive Activity
Have a Figurative Language bowl review with this self-checking Google interactive activity.
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Cereal Box Book Report - Author Study Book Bin Template
Research and write biographical text to create a literacy-themed book bin using an author study biography report template.
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Read Across America Scavenger Hunt for Upper Grades
Print a Read Across America 2024 Library Scavenger Hunt and take a journey across the US with your class!
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Free Author's Purpose Worksheets
Assess reading comprehension by reviewing 3 short passages and answering questions about the author's purpose.
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World War II for Kids - Mini Book
Build vocabulary and understanding of the causes, events, and outcomes of WW2 with a printable mini book and comprehension questions.
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Characteristics of an Environment – Worksheet
Enhance your students’ comprehension and science skills by learning about the physical characteristics of different environments and how they support populations within an ecosystem.
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Soccer vs. Football -Differentiated Paired Passage Worksheets
Differentiate reading instruction with nonfiction texts, compare and contrast activities, and response to text writing opportunities.
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Figurative Language Task Cards
Practice working with figurative language with this set of 12 task cards.
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Text Structures Sorting Activity
A set of 24 text structure cards to use in a sorting or scoot activity.
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Poetry Task Cards
A set of 20 task cards to practice different elements of peotry.
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Figurative Language Sorting Activity
Explore figurative language in context with this set of 28 sorting cards.
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What Does It Really Mean? - Hyperbole Task Cards
Identify and interpret hyperboles used in sentences.
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40 Traditional Similes - Matchup Activity
A set of 40 simile matchup cards with illustrations.
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Reading Response Template – Retelling Important Events
Help students retell important events in a piece of text with this one-page template.
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Inspirational Woman Profile: Malala Yousafzai – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension task to use when learning about Malala Yousafzai.
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Human Histories: Amazing Achievements - Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a biographical text about four humans who have achieved great things.
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Spring Is Here Poem – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a poem about the season of spring.
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Inferring Written Scenario Task Cards
Task cards that help students use their knowledge and ideas to help them decode ideas in texts.
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Author's Purpose - Sorting Worksheet
A teaching resource to help teach your students about author's purpose.
- 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