Gorilla Reading Comprehension Worksheet
This Gorilla Reading Comprehension Worksheet gives 5th Grade students a two-page nonfiction article about mountain gorillas, four multiple-choice questions, a written response, and an answer key, so readers practice finding evidence in a longer text.
$6.97
Or free with a membership — members pay $3.33/mo for all 10,000+ resources. See plans
Want this one free?
Tell us where to send it and it’s yours — no card, no catch.
One free resource per teacher. We’ll also send free teaching ideas each week — unsubscribe anytime.
Teaching is easier with a membership
Unlimited printables, games & videos for PreK–6th — for your classroom or homeschool. Cancel anytime.
Start your 3-day free trial$0 today · cancel anytime · Instant access to 10,000+ resources
About this resource
Description
Almost everything people once said about the largest ape on Earth turned out to be wrong, and that makes it a perfect subject for close reading. This Gorilla Reading Comprehension Worksheet gives 5th Grade students an original two-page nonfiction article about mountain gorillas, followed by a question page that asks them to find the main idea, pull specific details out of the text, and explain how a hundred-year-old myth was corrected. It works as a reading lesson and as a science lesson at the same time.
The article runs 722 words at a measured fifth-grade reading level. It covers the size of a grown silverback, the way a troop is organized, what mountain gorillas actually eat, the nest each animal builds and abandons every night, the calls and gestures they use, the patient field research of Dian Fossey, and the guarded forests in Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo where fewer than a thousand of them live today. This animal reading passage is written to be read straight through, so students practice stamina as well as comprehension. Use it for guided reading, for a science and reading block, for homework, or as a quick assessment before a unit on habitats.
What’s Included
- A two-page original nonfiction article, “The Gorilla,” with a full-color hero illustration
- Four multiple-choice questions with four options each: main idea, key detail, function, and inference
- One two-part constructed-response prompt that requires text evidence
- A complete answer key with a sample written response
- Vocabulary defined in context: folivore, silverback, and troop
Three Reasons This Helps Kids
- It builds reading stamina. A passage this length asks a fifth grader to hold a thread across two pages, which is exactly what a state reading assessment expects.
- It rewards evidence, not guessing. Every question is answerable from the article, and the written response has to cite two details before it counts.
- It teaches a habit of mind. The article is really about how careful observation replaced a scary story, which is a science lesson hiding inside a reading lesson.
Teacher and Parent Ideas
Have students read page one silently, then stop and predict what the researcher found before they turn the page. Ask them to underline every sentence that shows a gorilla behaving gently, then compare lists as a class. Strong readers can write a short paragraph arguing whether the visitor fees are a good idea. At home, pair this gorilla reading comprehension worksheet with a nature documentary and ask your child which facts from the article they can spot on screen.
Related Resources
What teachers say
Reviews
You must be logged in to post a review.












Reviews
There are no reviews yet