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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Tongue Twisters – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a magazine article from the Year 1 magazine (Issue 3).
- Free Plan
Letter to the Editor (Pet Ownership) – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a letter to the editor from the Year 4 magazine (Issue 3).
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10 Fascinating Facts About Water – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a magazine article from the Year 2 magazine (Issue 3).
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Canine Communication Collar – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a fake advertisement from the Year 4 magazine (Issue 2).
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Year 2 Magazine - "What's Buzzing?" (Issue 2) Task Cards
A set of five literacy rotation task cards to be used in conjunction with Issue 2 of Teach Starter’s Year 2 magazine.
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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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Year 3 Magazine - "What's Buzzing?" (Issue 2) Task Cards
A set of five literacy rotation task cards to be used in conjunction with Issue 2 of Teach Starter’s Year 3 magazine.
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The Cautious Carnival – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a fake advertisement from the Year 3 magazine (Issue 3).
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The Hovering Hoverboard – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a fake advertisement from the Year 3 magazine (Issue 2).
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What is NAIDOC Week? – Comprehension Task
A comprehension task to use in the classroom when learning about NAIDOC Week.
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Year 6 Magazine – “What’s Buzzing?” (Issue 2) Task Cards
A set of five literacy rotation task cards to be used in conjunction with Issue 2 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.
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Comprehension - Foiled Robbery
A fun script and set of questions to help students develop reading and comprehension strategies.
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Comprehension - Mighty Maree
A fun script and set of questions to help students develop reading and comprehension strategies.
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Comprehension - Radio Talk
A fun script and set of questions to help students develop reading and comprehension strategies.
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Comprehension - Hare and The Tortoise
A fun script and set of questions to help students develop reading and comprehension strategies.
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Comprehension - Plums For Mrs Smith
A comprehension activity using a recount for lower grades.
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Word of the Week Flip Book - Year 5
A 43 page flip book for introducing new vocabulary to year 5 students.
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Recalling Facts - Comprehension Task
A task to use when teaching your students reading comprehension strategies.
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What are Bushfires? Cloze Worksheet
A cloze worksheet about bushfires.
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Fiction and Non-Fiction Cloze Activities
A set of 7 fiction and non-fiction cloze worksheets with answer sheets.
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All About Soldiers - Comprehension and Building Background Worksheets
Learn about soldiers and Remembrance Day with a group of six worksheets that build background and comprehension skills.
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Compare and Contrast Worksheets - Neil Armstrong vs. Amelia Earhart
Compare and contrast Neil Armstrong and Amelia Earhart with differentiated reading comprehension worksheets.
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Foundation Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 2)
Issue 2 of our beautifully designed, 16-page reading magazine specifically designed for Foundation students.
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Foundation Magazine – What's Buzzing? (Issue 3)
Issue 3 of our beautifully designed, 16-page reading magazine specifically designed for Foundation students.
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Henry Ford Mini Book - Famous Inventor Activity
Provide students with cross-curricular history, science and reading instruction with a printable Henry Ford mini book.
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Australia's Voting System – Comprehension Worksheets
Explore the history and systems of voting in Australia with this differentiated reading comprehension activity.
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Debating and Scrutinising Bills - Comprehension Worksheets
Explore how bills are debated and scrutinised in the Australian Federal Parliament with this differentiated reading comprehension activity.
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All About the Sun – Comprehension Worksheet
Integrate science and reading while learning about the Sun with this comprehension worksheet.
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5 Fun Facts About Ants - Read and Respond Worksheet
A '5 fun facts ...' information sheet and worksheet.
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Playtime Before School – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a comic from the Year 1 magazine (Issue 3).
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Reading Response Visualising – Template
A comprehension template for students to practise visualising.