Primary Reading Comprehension Worksheets

Answer Keys Here

In this section of our website, we explore a gapped approach toward reading comprehension. These worksheets are primed for students that are in elementary school meaning they are in kindergarten through sixth grade. The goal of this section is to add a level of supplementation for students at home. As the title implies, we will provide students with a reading passage on various topics. Then we have students answer questions about what they read. There are many different ways you can improve you reading skills at this level. It all starts with a routine. You should keep a set time that you set aside to read and make sure you get plenty of rest. The easiest way to stay unfocused all day is to be tired. Make sure to get eight hours of sleep every night. It also helps if you set aside a spot in your home that is free of distractions to read regularly. Another great habit to get into is to keep a reading journal to track your efforts. It helps to be able to back and reflect on the effort that you are putting into getting better.

Primary Reading Comprehension Worksheets:

What Is an Epidemic? - When a lot of people in the same place get sick with the same illness at around the same time, it is called an epidemic. Some diseases get spread through food or water. Some spread from person to person when people are close to each other.

Dogs - The dog was the first domesticated animal. People have lived together with dogs for at least 14,000 years. Dogs are smart and loyal. They are also able to help out humans in many ways.

The Cheetah - The Cheetah is a big cat, but they are smaller than the other big cats like lions, tigers, and jaguars. Cheetahs grow to be 90 to 140 pounds and up to 4 1/2 feet long.

Cowboys - In the 1800s, many people in America moved west to settle. Men who worked on ranches herding cattle and taking care of fences, buildings, and horses were called cowboys.

Grasshoppers - A grasshopper is a kind of insect. There are over 11,000 species of grasshopper. Like all insects, grasshoppers have a hard, jointed exoskeleton and three pairs of jointed legs. Their bodies of all insects have three parts: head, thorax, and abdomen. Grasshoppers have two antennae on their heads and two pairs of wings. The back wings are larger. Their back legs are also larger than their other legs. This helps grasshoppers to jump.

Insects - Over half of all creatures on Earth are insects. There are between six and ten million different kinds of insects, and they live in every kind of ecosystem except the ocean. Insects vary greatly in size and appearance, but they all have a few things in common.

What Does Organic Mean? - Products can only be labeled organic if a certifying body has authorized it. There are 48 certifying agents in the United States accredited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) who are authorized to certify that organic standards are being met by companies producing organic product.

Origin Stories - A superhero's origin story is the story of how they became "super." It explains what happened in their past that motivates them to help people and why we should care about them. It also explains where their powers come from.

What Is a Political Party? - A political party is a group of people that have particular opinions, interests and goals in common. They come together to act as a group in the hopes of being able to influence laws and the government. The main way that a political party advances its interests is by working to elect a particular candidate for political office.

Black Widow Spider - The black widow spider is one of the most poisonous spiders in North America. A black widow is a black spider with a red mark on the underside of it's abdomen. The red mark is shaped like an hourglass.

King Tut - King Tutankhamun (King Tut for short) is the most famous Egyptian Pharaoh. The word Pharaoh means king. Tut was king of Egypt when he was a young boy. He died when he was eighteen. When Tut’s tomb was found in 1922, it was full of valuable treasures. It was the most amazing archeological finds in history.

Pyramids - The ancient Egyptians built pyramids as tombs for their pharaohs (kings). We know of eight pyramids whose remains are still standing in Egypt today. The biggest pyramid in Egypt is the Great Pyramid built at Giza about 4,500 years ago. The "Great Pyramid" is the largest pyramid ever built.

The First Olympics - The first Ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece in 776 BC. There were games every four years after that until 394 AD. The first modern Olympic Games were held in1894 after a Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin suggested that the world revive the ancient Greek tradition.

What is a Virus? - A viruses is a kind of microorganism. Viruses are made up of a few strands of genetic material (DNA or RNA) and a layer of protein called the CAPSID.

Helen Keller - Helen Keller was born in 1880 in Alabama. When she was about 18 months old, she became very sick with a high fever. She recovered, but the illness had taken both her sight and her hearing.

The Verdict Is In! What They Research Says About Common Reading Strategies

Take a few minutes to reflect on strategies that researchers have seen improve our student’s ability to understand what they read. We will start with looking at in class choral reading. This is when teachers assign a different student throughout parts of a work to read aloud to the class. While some teachers give anecdotal evidence of being about to improve pronunciation, the overwhelming evidence points to this technique as being harmful for struggling readers when it is solely student driven. It greatly increases student anxiety and amplifies negative thoughts toward reading. The research clearly shows that when a teacher proactively participates in this process and assists as needed, it can have a huge upside. It has shown to help increase student confidence, fluency, and expand vocabulary.


Partner reading is not a technique that I have been a big fan of. This is where you pair a strong and struggling reader together and have them read aloud to each other. As they read, they will ask each other questions that the teacher has preselected. I have found that student personalities and class dynamics can get in the way more times than not. I stand corrected, there are several studies that have shown this to improve reading fluency and pronunciation in many cases. Taking this approach a step further, research shows that Big Brother/Sister reading program have paid by dividends in many different studies. This is where you have students that are older come to younger classes and read to students. In my school we have the fifth graders read to kindergarteners and sixth graders read to first graders every Friday. This can students help in both directions. If you have older students that struggles a bit at their reading grade level, you can have them share the joy of reading with texts that would be easy for them. This greatly improves their self esteem and affinity to read on their own. Younger students greatly benefit from this model because they are getting a mentoring situation where they will look up to the older kids.


The last aspect of a solid reading program that I would like to remind you about is the allowing students to choose what they read. Now we cannot do this all time, but anytime you have an opportunity I would highly encourage you to consider this. Programs that have been based around this theory have shown to have engagement levels of students skyrocket the minute this policy is instituted. A six-year study that examined student attitudes toward reading examined this and it was seen to help greatly improve student attitudes and increase student comprehension levels overall. It all starts with having a wide variety of materials available in your class. If you are going to teach reading, at any capacity, the minute you do start asking your friends and family for student book donations. Especially anyone who has older children, those families are goldmines for great new reading materials. Review your reading library every summer and see what you need to add and what you should donate to the local library.