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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Identifying Descriptive and Figurative Language Worksheets
Help your students identify descriptive and figurative language in narrative texts with this set of colour-coding worksheets.
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Informative Paragraphs Sequencing Activity
6 scrambled informative paragraphs for students to sequence in the correct order.
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Malala Yousafzai Biography – Read and Respond Worksheet
A comprehension activity related to a biographical text.
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The Water Cycle – Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Enhance your students’ comprehension and science vocabulary skills with this water cycle worksheet.
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Earth Watch: Protecting Native Plants and Animals – Comprehension Worksheet
Build comprehension skills and learn about human impact on ecosystems with a reading passage and worksheets.
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Introduction to Narrative Features PowerPoint - Year 3 and Year 4
A 23 slide editable PowerPoint template to use when teaching your students about the features of narrative texts.
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Monster Magic - Reading Comprehension Activity
Read and comprehend a set of instructions to create a magical monster!
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Types of Figurative Language - Worksheet
Practise identifying and creating examples of figurative language with this printable worksheet.
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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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The Three Little Pigs – Comprehension Worksheet
Develop your students' reading comprehension skills with a well-known fairy tale.
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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 of Planet Earth Worksheet
Engage your students with a high-interest reading passage about the moon with this informative article and accompanying response sheet.
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Giraffe Adaptations - Reading Comprehension Year 3
Read and learn about adaptations of the giraffe with a set of printable Year 3 comprehension activities.
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Year 6 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 26-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 6 students.
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Year 3 Magazine – What's Buzzing? (Issue 3)
Issue 3 of our beautifully designed, 22-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 3 students.
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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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Year 5 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 5 students.
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Comprehension - Stop Polluting The Ocean
A comprehension activity using a persuasive text.
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Echidna Adaptations – Reading Worksheet Pack
Discover the adaptations of the echidna with a printable reading passage and comprehension worksheet pack.
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Platypus Adaptations - Reading Passage & Questions
Learn about the physical and behavioural adaptations of the platypus with a set of printable reading comprehension worksheets for Year 3.
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Amazing Ants! – Comprehension Worksheet Year 1-2
Review reading skills with comprehension worksheet for an article about ants from the Year 1 magazine (Issue 3).
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Year 3 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 3 students.
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Advertisement Worksheet – Milton Mentor
A comprehension worksheet for a persuasive magazine advertisement about a digital personal assistant.
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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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60 Comprehension Strategy Task Cards
A 144 page comprehension resource pack to help students apply comprehension strategies when reading.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Recognising Cause And Effect
A set of comprehension task cards to help students recognise cause and effect when reading.
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Hansel and Gretel – Comprehension Worksheet
Develop your students' reading comprehension skills with a well-known fairy tale.
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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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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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Narrative Paragraphs Sequencing Activity
6 jumbled narrative paragraphs for students to sequence in the correct order.
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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.