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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Empathy vs. Sympathy Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Challenge your students to learn the differences between empathy and sympathy with this reading comprehension worksheet.
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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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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 2 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically written for Year 2 students.
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Year 1 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically written for Year 1 students.
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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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A True Champion – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a narrative from the Year 2 magazine (Issue 2).
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The Birthday Ride – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a narrative from the Year 1 magazine (Issue 3).
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Sequencing Activity - Homework is Unnecessary (Persuasive Text) - Simplified Version
A sequencing task using a simple persuasive text.
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Making Predictions - Comprehension Task
A task to use when teaching your students reading comprehension strategies.
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Animals in the Arctic - Free Mini Book
Learn about polar animals and build comprehension skills with a Year 2 Arctic animal book.
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Year 4 Reading Comprehension - The Day of the Dead Reading Passage
Read and learn about the Mexican holiday, Dia De Los Muertos, with a reading passage and Year 4 reading prose comprehension test.
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The Importance of Soil – Comprehension Worksheets
Teach your students about the importance of soil to plants, animals and humans with this differentiated reading comprehension passage with accompanying questions.
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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 History of Codes - Comprehension Worksheet
Learn about the history and development of Morse code with a comprehension 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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Fascinating Facts About Animals Worksheet
Build reading comprehension skills and learn about amazing animals with a printable year 1 reading comprehension worksheet pack.
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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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Year 3 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 3 magazine.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Compare And Contrast
A set of comprehension task cards to help students compare and contrast when reading.
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Movie Versus Book Popcorn and Drink Review - Template
Templates that students can compare and review a movie and a book with the same title, then construct them into a 3D popcorn box and movie drink cup.
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Australian Conservationists: Tim Flannery – Comprehension Worksheet
Learn about Tim Flannery and his conservation work with this 2-page reading passage and accompanying comprehension questions.
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Camel Adaptations - Year Five Reading Comprehension
Learn about the physical and behavioural adaptations of a camel with a set of printable reading comprehension worksheets for Year 5.
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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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Year 1 Magazine – What’s Buzzing? (Issue 2)
A beautifully designed, 22-page reading magazine specifically designed for Year 1 students.
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Finding The Main Idea - Comprehension Task (Turtles)
Explore the wonderful world of turtles with this comprehension task focusing on the main idea.
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Main Idea or Supporting Detail? – Sorting Activity
An activity for students to determine which of 2 related facts is a main idea and which is a supporting detail.
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Humpty Dumpty Off the Wall – Comprehension Worksheet
Integrate nursery rhymes and early reading comprehension skills with a Humpty Dumpty reading passage and comprehension questions.
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My Dog Max – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a narrative from the Foundation magazine (Issue 1).
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Letter to the Editor: Social Media – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a persuasive article about social media.
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Hermes' Hocus Pocus – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a narrative from the Year 3 magazine (Issue 3).
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Species Snapshot Worksheet - Honey Bees
A comprehension worksheet for a species snapshot magazine article about honey bees.