Reading comprehensionGrades 1–5
Reading comprehension worksheets
Each sheet holds one original story or article written for a grade from 1 to 5, followed by questions the student answers by circling or writing. It is for parents, tutors and teachers who want quick reading practice with a key. The page opens on 3rd grade.
- Fresh problems every time
- Answer key on its own page
- Print or PDF, Letter or A4
- Free, no sign-up
On this page
One passage, a few questions
A comprehension sheet works best when it is short enough to finish in one sitting. This one prints a single passage with its title, then the questions underneath, all on one page. The student reads, answers, and goes back to the text to check. The instructions line under the title says exactly that: read carefully, circle the best answer or write on the lines, and look back at the text.
The passages are original and were written for this site. Some are stories and some are articles, and the instructions say "story" or "article" to match. Length and vocabulary rise from one grade to the next, but the passages are not leveled by Lexile or any other formal system, so treat the grade as a rough guide and move up or down as your child needs.
What prints
The title line names the grade, such as "3rd Grade Reading Comprehension". Below the instructions comes the passage title in bold, then the text in paragraphs. The type is largest for 1st grade and shrinks a little each year, so a first grader sees big print and a fifth grader sees something close to a book page.
Questions come in two kinds.
- Grades 1 and 2: three multiple-choice questions with three choices each, listed in a single column, then one question answered on two writing lines.
- Grades 3 to 5: three multiple-choice questions with four choices each, laid out in two columns, then two questions answered on two writing lines each.
On the key, every right choice is ringed and a model written reply is printed for you to compare. Model answers are short, so a child's longer version can still be right.
The settings
- Grade has five choices: 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade and 5th grade. The page opens on 3rd grade.
That is the only option. Each grade has five passages. Choosing new problems gives you another passage from the same grade, and it can repeat one you have already seen, so print and keep the ones you want.
Worked example: a 3rd grade story about a lighthouse
Set the grade to 3rd and press new problems until "The Lighthouse Cat" appears. It is a story of about 140 words about Mr. Hale, who climbs a hundred steps each evening to light the great lamp, and his cat Pebble. One foggy night the lamp goes dark and the spare bulb is downstairs.
The first question reads "What did Mr. Hale do every evening?" The four choices sit in two columns, and the right one is "He turned on the great lamp." The third asks what "flickered" means, and the answer is "went on and off quickly". A student who is unsure goes back to the second paragraph and reads the sentence the word is in.
The written questions are "What did Pebble bring back to Mr. Hale?" and "Why was it important for the lamp to work in the fog?" The key models them as "The spare bulb" and "It helped ships pass safely."
Choosing a grade
Pick the grade your child is reading in, then check the first attempt. If they finish with no looking back, try the next grade up. If they guess, go down one. The grade pages list each passage by title: 1st grade, 3rd grade and 5th grade.
Sources
- Common Core State Standards: Reading Literature, Grade 3 (RL.3.1) thecorestandards.org
- Common Core State Standards: Reading Informational Text, Grade 3 (RI.3.1) thecorestandards.org
- Institute of Education Sciences: Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (WWC practice guide) ies.ed.gov