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.
- Free Plan
Drawing Conclusions and Making Inferences – Comprehension Task Cards
Use this set of comprehension task cards with your students to help them draw conclusions and make inferences when reading.
- Free Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Veterans Day - 4th Grade Reading Comprehension Worksheets
Explore this 4th Grade Reading Comprehension pack and learn about the Veterans Day holiday.
- Free Plan
Arctic Fox Adaptations - Free Comprehension Worksheet
Read and learn about Arctic fox adaptations with a set of printable Reading Comprehension Worksheets for 2nd and 3rd grade.
- Free Plan
Comprehension Worksheets - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Read and learn about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with a reading comprehension passage and worksheet pack.
- Free Plan
How to Make a Monster Reading Comprehension Activity
Read and comprehend a set of instructions to create a magical monster!
- Plus Plan
Writing Information Texts Teaching Slides
Teach your students the features of information reports using this detailed slideshow targeted at upper elementary school students.
- Free Plan
Lewis and Clark Expedition - RACES Writing Strategy Worksheets
Practice using the RACES writing strategy for text evidence with a Lewis and Clark Passage, graphic organizer, and worksheet.
- Free Plan
Boston Tea Party - RACES Writing Strategy Worksheet
Integrate reading, writing, and American history with a worksheet about the Boston Tea Party using the RACES writing strategy for text evidence.
- Plus Plan
Comparing Narrative and Informational Text Worksheets
Use this set of comparing narrative and informational text worksheets to examine the purpose and features of these two common genres.
- Free Plan
Should Smartphones Be Allowed in Class? Comprehension Worksheets
Decide if cellphones should be allowed in class and boost comprehension skills with a reading passage and comprehension test.
- Plus Plan
OREO® Opinion Writing Poster
Help students remember the structure of opinion texts with this fun OREO® acronym.
- Free Plan
Phases of the Moon – Comprehension Worksheet
Analyze different moon phases and how their visual appearances change over time with this reading comprehension worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Label the Nonfiction Text Features Worksheets
Have your students label text features in nonfiction texts with this set of three differentiation text features worksheets for elementary students.
- Free Plan
Finding the Main Idea - Graphic Organizer Templates
Teach students how to find the main idea of a text using one of these one-page graphic organizers.
- Free Plan
Finding the Main Idea in Nonfiction Text Worksheet
Identify supporting evidence for the main idea of an informational text passage and answer the comprehension questions.
- Free Plan
Story Elements Graphic Organizers – Portrait
Encourage your students to write and draw about various story elements with this set of differentiated graphic organizers.
- Plus Plan
Thanksgiving - Comprehension Worksheet for 3rd Grade
Read and learn about the origin of Thanksgiving with a printable reading comprehension worksheet for 3rd grade.
- Free Plan
Free Character Traits List
Teach your students to analyze characters more effectively by providing them with a list of character traits.
- Free Plan
Nonfiction Summary Checklist
Give your students a checklist when summarizing nonfiction texts to make sure they include everything required.
- Free Plan
Amelia Earhart Constructed Response Worksheet
Use this passage, second grade writing prompt, and worksheet to help students write a constructed response paragraph about Amelia Earhart.
- Free Plan
Making Connections Graphic Organizer
A graphic organizer for students to record text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections.
- Free Plan
Literary Plot Elements - Graphic Organizer
Familiarize students with finding the 5 elements of plot in a literary text.
- Free Plan
Metaphors Worksheet
Practice identifying and using metaphors with this differentiated metaphors worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Reading Comprehension Worksheets-King Midas and the Golden Touch Google Interactive and Printable Resources
Review and practice multiple reading skills using the text “King Midas and the Golden Touch” with these digital and print resources.
- Plus Plan
Who Is Harriet Tubman? – Shared Reading and Activity
Learn about Harriet Tubman and her work in the abolitionist movement with this 15-slide read-along PowerPoint presentation.
- Plus Plan
Exploring Informational Texts Teaching Slides
Teach your students how to write an informational text using this detailed slideshow targeted at lower elementary school students.
- Free Plan
Note-taking Graphic Organizer
A graphic organizer for students to use when taking notes.
- Plus Plan
Story Structure Sentence Strips
Explore sentences that form the beginning, middle and end of 5 short stories with this sorting activity for younger year levels.
- Plus Plan
Informative Writing Fact Files - Differentiated Writing Worksheets
Teach your students to write informative texts using a pack of differentiated Informative Writing Fact File Worksheets.
- Free Plan
Reading Response Template – Inferring and Predicting
Guide your students to make inferences and predictions with a piece of text using the one-page template.
- Free Plan
Character Anchor Charts - Traits, Feelings, and Appearances
A set of 3 posters depicting words and phrases that can be used to describe a character traits, feelings and appearance.
- 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