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.
- Plus Plan
Summarizing Fiction Slide Deck
Build summarizing skills with fiction texts using these teaching slides.
- Plus Plan
Koala Adaptations Comprehension Worksheets for 4th Grade
Learn about the physical and behavioral adaptations of the koala with a set of printable reading comprehension worksheets for 4th grade.
- 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
Uses of Magnets Comprehension Worksheet
Download this magnets worksheet to teach your 2nd grade students about the uses of magnets in our everyday lives.
- Free Plan
Nonfiction Text Features Flipbook – Read and Define
Use this text features flipbook as a reading center activity to teach your students about the purpose of text features in nonfiction books.
- Plus Plan
Movie Day Activity Menu
Turn a movie day into a learning experience with our printable Movie Day Comprehension menu.
- Plus Plan
Grade 3 Magazine - What's Buzzing? (Issue 1)
A beautifully designed, 24-page reading magazine specifically written for Grade 3 students.
- Plus Plan
Summarizing Nonfiction Graphic Organizer Pack
Help students summarize nonfiction texts with this set of graphic organizers.
- Free Plan
Nonfiction Summary Checklist
Give your students a checklist when summarizing nonfiction texts to make sure they include everything required.
- Plus Plan
Character Appearance, Traits and Feelings - Worksheet
Explore and describe a character's personality, feelings and appearance with this differentiated worksheet to be used with any text.
- Plus Plan
Comprehension Task Cards - Finding The Main Idea
A set of comprehension task cards to help students find the main idea when reading.
- Plus Plan
Main Idea and Details in Nonfiction Text — Instructional Slide Deck
Build skills in identifying main idea and details in nonfiction texts with an instructional slide deck for primary grades.
- Plus Plan
The Moon – Reading Passage and Response Sheet
Engage your students with a high-interest reading passage about the moon with this informative article and accompanying response sheet.
- Plus Plan
Cereal Box Book Report - Author Study Book Bin Template
Research and write biographical text to create a literacy-themed book bin using an author study biography report template.
- Plus Plan
The Judicial Branch - Roles of Government Worksheet Pack
Learn about the roles and responsibilities of the Judicial Branch of the United States government with a printable reading passage and comprehension worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Read Across America Scavenger Hunt for Upper Grades
Print a Read Across America 2024 Library Scavenger Hunt and take a journey across the US with your class!
- Plus Plan
Characteristics of an Environment – Worksheet
Enhance your students’ comprehension and science skills by learning about the physical characteristics of different environments and how they support populations within an ecosystem.
- Plus Plan
Reading Comprehension Strategies Anchor Charts
Provide young readers with concrete examples of reading strategies with a set of 18 ready-made reading anchor charts.
- Plus Plan
Soccer vs. Football -Differentiated Paired Passage Worksheets
Differentiate reading instruction with nonfiction texts, compare and contrast activities, and response to text writing opportunities.
- Plus Plan
Reading and Writing Nonfiction Text: Earth Day Close Read Worksheets
Enhance your students' comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills with this nonfiction Earth Day passage and accompanying activities.
- Plus Plan
Figurative Language Task Cards
Practice working with figurative language with this set of 12 task cards.
- Plus Plan
Text Structures Sorting Activity
A set of 24 text structure cards to use in a sorting or scoot activity.
- Plus Plan
Poetry Task Cards
A set of 20 task cards to practice different elements of peotry.
- Plus Plan
40 Traditional Similes - Matchup Activity
A set of 40 simile matchup cards with illustrations.
- Free Plan
Inspirational Woman Profile: Malala Yousafzai – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension task to use when learning about Malala Yousafzai.
- Plus Plan
Human Histories: Amazing Achievements - Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a biographical text about four humans who have achieved great things.
- Plus Plan
Spring Is Here Poem – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a poem about the season of spring.
- Plus Plan
A Thinker Like Me Poem - Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet paired with a poem about a thinker.
- Plus Plan
Inferring Written Scenario Task Cards
Task cards that help students use their knowledge and ideas to help them decode ideas in texts.
- Free Plan
Interesting Idioms Worksheet
A worksheet using common idioms.
- Plus Plan
Comprehension Task Cards - Recognizing Cause And Effect
A set of comprehension task cards to help students recognize cause and effect when reading.
- Free Plan
Distinguish Between Fact and Opinion Poster
A poster highlighting how to distinguish between fact and opinion when reading a piece of text.
- 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