Opening Presents Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Christmas morning is one of the few stories every child already knows the shape of, which makes it a good place to practise reading for detail. This opening presents reading comprehension worksheet tells a short, original story about Violet and her brother Jayce, who each open one gift before breakfast and then find a third package with no tag on it at all. Inside is a big roll of blank paper, and their mom tells them it is from the two of them, to the two of them — a gift they have to make into something together.

The story in this opening presents reading comprehension worksheet runs 226 words, written and measured for third grade, so students get real reading stamina practice without hitting vocabulary that stops them cold. Four multiple choice questions follow on the next page, each drawn from a different part of the story rather than all from the opening lines, and each answerable from one sentence a student can point at. The last item asks for a written response: how is the gift with no tag different from the other gifts? That question cannot be answered from a single line, so it makes a reader hold the whole story at once.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• A 226-word illustrated story page, 4 multiple choice questions and 1 written response

Three things make this 3rd grade christmas worksheet worth a full reading block. First, the story has a real turn in it — the third gift changes what the whole morning is about — so comprehension means following a change, not collecting facts. Second, every wrong answer choice names something that never appears in the story, so a student who reads carefully can rule it out instead of guessing between two plausible options. Third, the written response asks for two details as evidence, which is the same move a reading test will ask for in a constructed-response item.

Ways to Use It

• Read the story aloud once together, then let students read it again on their own.
• Ask students to underline the sentence that proves each multiple choice answer.
• Use the written response as a short paragraph lesson on citing evidence.
• Send it home in December as a holiday reading page families can do together.

Related Resources

• Christmas Reading Comprehension Worksheet
• Christmas Tree Reading Comprehension Worksheet
• Christmas Cookies Reading Comprehension Worksheet
• Story Elements Song