The five essential components students must master to become proficient readers are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Comprehension refers to the ability to understand the meaning of text, and is the end goal of all reading instruction. Students with strong comprehension skills are use a variety of comprehension strategies as they read to help them make sense of what they are reading. They choose these strategies logically and use these strategies intentionally. This automaticity is developed by purposeful teacher instruction and extensive student practice. Reading comprehension worksheets are a critical element in providing students with the practice they need. They can be used before, during, or after reading to help students better comprehend what they are reading. Reading comprehension worksheets can be carefully selected to provide students a chance to practice the specific comprehension strategies they are learning about in the classroom or as a review of previously learned material.

Besides their effectiveness in reinforcing reading objectives, reading comprehension worksheets provide instant student feedback for teachers. It is easy for a teacher to quickly circulate around the room while students are working to see who has mastered the day’s concepts and who needs re-teaching or just a little extra help. Differentiated instruction is also easily achieved through the use of reading comprehension worksheets. All students can work on the same skill at the same time, but at their appropriate reading level. This gives all children in the classroom the chance to be successful.

In many schools students are no longer allowed to take textbooks out of the classroom, so reading comprehension worksheets are often the best option for homework. In addition to providing extra reading practice, they provide a vital link between home and school. Parents can see what their child is learning and then use the worksheet as a tool to continue to build on that skill at home.

Teachers used to have to create everything they used in their classrooms themselves or with the help of other teachers on their grade level. Thankfully, the Internet has provided an avenue for teachers to share time consuming tasks with other teachers around the world. All the reading comprehension worksheets a classroom teacher could ever need are now just a click away. There are many worksheet generator sites on the web which allow teachers to easily format their own worksheets or customize already made worksheets to fit their needs. There are also many excellent sites that have ready-made reading comprehension worksheets divided by skill, theme, grade level and reading ability.