The African Elephant Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Reading comprehension is the ability to read a text, understand what it means, and hold on to the important details well enough to answer questions about them. The African Elephant Reading Comprehension Worksheet builds that skill with a short non-fiction passage about the largest animal that walks on land. Students read about the elephant’s trunk, tusks, big ears, herd, and favorite foods, and then go back into the text to find the evidence that answers each question. Because the passage is informational rather than a story, it also gives young readers early practice with the kind of science text they will meet again and again in later grades.

This 2nd grade animals worksheet is laid out on three easy-to-follow pages. Page one holds the illustrated passage, page two holds the questions, and the final page is the answer key. Print it and read the passage aloud together first, or let confident readers work through it on their own. Students fill in the bubble beside the best answer for four multiple-choice questions, finish two sentences using words from the word box, and then write a short response that explains their thinking. The layout leaves plenty of room to write, so it works just as well for independent seatwork as it does for small-group reading time.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• 4 multiple-choice questions, 2 word-box sentences, and 1 written response

There are three reasons The African Elephant Reading Comprehension Worksheet helps children learn this skill. First, the passage is written on grade level, so students spend their energy on understanding the meaning instead of decoding hard words. Second, every question can be answered straight from the text, which teaches children to look back rather than guess. Third, the mix of question types — multiple choice, fill in the blank, and a written response — asks students to show what they understand in more than one way, which is exactly how classroom reading assessments are built.

Teachers and parents can stretch the lesson in simple ways. Ask children to underline the sentence that proves each answer, or to retell the passage in their own words without looking. Turn the word box into a quick vocabulary game by having students act out trunk, tusks, herd, and calf. Compare the elephant with another large animal and chart what is the same and what is different. You can also invite each student to write one new question about the passage and trade it with a partner to answer.

Related Resources

• Wild Animal Shelter Reading Comprehension Worksheet
• What Animal Is That Reading Comprehension Worksheet
• Animal Myth Busters Reading Comprehension Worksheet
• Animal Song by Have Fun Teaching (YouTube)