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.
- Free Plan
Healthy Mind, Healthy Body: No Free Rides! – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a comic from the Year 5 magazine (Issue 3).
- Plus Plan
How Does Water Get to Our Taps? – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for an information report from the Year 2 magazine (Issue 2).
- Free Plan
Hermes' Hocus Pocus – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a narrative from the Year 3 magazine (Issue 3).
- Plus Plan
Year 6 Magazine - "What's Buzzing?" (Issue 1) Task Cards
A set of five literacy rotation task cards to be used in conjunction with Issue 1 of Teach Starter's Year 6 magazine.
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Year 4 Magazine – "What's Buzzing?" (Issue 3) Task Cards
A set of five literacy rotation task cards to be used in conjunction with Issue 3 of Teach Starter’s Year 4 magazine.
- Plus Plan
Little Red Riding Hood – Comprehension Worksheet
Develop your students' reading comprehension skills with a well-known fairy tale.
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Comprehension - Roald Dahl
A comprehension activity using a biography of Roald Dahl.
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Fiction and Non-Fiction Cloze Activities
A set of 7 fiction and non-fiction cloze worksheets with answer sheets.
- Plus Plan
Properties of Matter Reading Comprehension Pack (Year 3)
Read and discover the properties of matter with a set of Year 3 Reading Comprehension Worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Year 5 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 2)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 5 students.
- Plus Plan
Producer, Consumer, Decomposer - Comprehension Worksheets
Explore the role of producers, consumers and decomposers within ecosystems with this comprehension task.
- Free Plan
Extreme Environments: Lands of Ice and Sand – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for an information report from the Year 4 magazine (Issue 3).
- Free Plan
The Birthday Ride – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a narrative from the Year 1 magazine (Issue 3).
- Plus Plan
Comprehension Task Cards - Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion
A set of comprehension task cards to help students distinguish between fact and opinion when reading.
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Comprehension - Thunderstorms
A comprehension activity using an information text about thunderstorms.
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Cause and Effect - Comprehension Task
A task to use when teaching your students reading comprehension strategies.
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Let's Get Ready to Rock! – Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Read and discover the three types of rock with a set of Year 3 Reading Comprehension Worksheets.
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Poison Dart Frog Adaptations – Year 4 Reading Worksheets
Explore the adaptations of a poison dart frog with printable reading comprehension worksheets for Year 4.
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Comprehension - What Are Coding Systems?
Discover the history of technologies and coding systems with a reading comprehension activity.
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The History of Australia's Parliamentary System - Comprehension Worksheets
Explore the ins and outs of Australia’s parliamentary history with this reading comprehension activity.
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NAPLAN Reading Magazine – Year 3
5 reading texts with multiple choice questions for NAPLAN Reading Year 3.
- Free Plan
Fantastic Forces Comprehension Worksheet
Download this forces reading comprehension worksheet to teach your Year 4 students about push and pull forces.
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Angry Outbursts – Comprehension Worksheet
Explore emotional awareness and healthy calming strategies with this comic-style comprehension passage and accompanying questions.
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Advertisement Worksheet – K-9ine the Robot Dog
A comprehension worksheet for a persuasive magazine advertisement about a robotic dog.
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The Story of Gulaga - Comprehension and Activity Worksheet
A comprehension and linked activity based on an Aboriginal Dreaming Story.
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The Escape Key - Story and Task Cards
An exciting short story about escaping a maze with a set of task cards to explore after the text has been read.
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The Sinking of the RMS Titanic - Historical Recounts Comparison Task
A comprehension task to enable students to compare literary historical recounts and factual historical recounts.
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Australian Endangered Species Snapshots – Comprehension Worksheet
Explore some Australian endangered species with your students using this set of reading passages with comprehension questions.
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Fennec Fox Adaptations - Close Reading Worksheets
Read and learn about Fennec Fox adaptations with a set of printable Reading Comprehension Worksheets for Year 5.
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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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Year 1 Magazine – What's Buzzing? (Issue 3)
Issue 3 of our beautifully designed, 22-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 1 students.
- Plus Plan
Year 1 Magazine – What’s Buzzing? (Issue 2)
A beautifully designed, 22-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 1 students.