Stomach Ache Reading Comprehension Worksheet

The Stomach Ache Reading Comprehension Worksheet gives fifth graders a 752-word non-fiction passage about something almost every child has felt, and then asks them to read it closely. The passage explains what the stomach actually does to a meal, why swallowed air and helpful bacteria are behind most ordinary aches, how nerves in the gut carry messages to and from the brain, and which everyday habits make the whole job easier. It is a science text and a reading text at once, which is exactly the kind of passage state assessments use.

About This Worksheet

The story runs across two full pages, so students build real reading stamina before a single question appears. Page three carries four multiple-choice items and one written response; the items are drawn from across both passage pages, not from the opening paragraph alone. One asks for a detail, one asks what peristalsis means from its context, one asks for a cause, and one asks for the main idea of the whole text. The written response asks students to explain a claim and support it with two details they find themselves.

What’s Included

• A four-page printable PDF: two passage pages, a question page and an answer key
• An original 752-word non-fiction passage written and measured at a 5th grade reading level
• Four multiple-choice questions covering detail, vocabulary in context, cause and main idea
• One two-part constructed response with ruled writing space
• A complete answer key with a sample response for the written item

Three Reasons This Helps Kids

• The topic is already theirs. Students who shrug at a passage about a faraway place will read carefully about something their own body does, and attention is half of comprehension.
• It teaches vocabulary the way tests do. Words like enzymes and peristalsis are defined inside the sentence that introduces them, so students practise pulling meaning from context instead of from a glossary.
• It builds stamina, not just recall. A two-page text with questions spread across both pages rewards the student who keeps reading to the end.

Teacher and Parent Ideas

Use this 5th grade human body worksheet as a cross-curricular bridge: read it in science, answer it in reading, and the same text counts twice. Before students begin, ask them to predict what the stomach does with a meal and write the prediction in the margin, then compare it to the passage afterwards. Strong readers can mark the sentence that proves each answer, which makes the written response almost automatic. At home, read the first page together and the second page alone, then talk about the habits paragraph over an actual meal. The Stomach Ache Reading Comprehension Worksheet also works well as a sub plan, because the directions explain themselves.

Related Resources

• Your Amazing Brain Reading Comprehension Worksheet
• Why Do I Have a Cold? Reading Comprehension Worksheet
• Human Body Systems Worksheet
• Parts of the Body Song