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Reading Comprehension — Kindergarten Lesson

Students will understand simple stories by answering who, what, and where questions and retelling events in order.

Kindergarten · Reading Comprehension · ~15 min lesson

What is reading comprehension?

Reading comprehension is understanding what a story means — not just saying the words. Even before children can read, they can understand stories they hear and see.

The four key questions

For any story, ask four questions:

  1. Who is in the story? (characters)
  2. What happens? (events)
  3. Where does it happen? (setting)
  4. Why does it happen? (the reason)

Characters and setting

  • Characters are the people or animals in the story.
  • Setting is where and when the story happens.

In “The Red Hen”: the characters are the hen, the cat, the dog, and the duck. The setting is the farm.

What happened first, next, last?

Stories happen in order. After reading, put the events in order:

First the hen found the wheat. Next she planted it. Last she made and ate the bread.

Retelling in your own words

Retelling means saying what happened in your own words — not memorizing the book. Use the pictures to help. If your child can retell the story, they understood it.

How to practice at home

  • Ask the four questions after every bedtime story.
  • Picture walk: tell the story from the pictures before reading the words.
  • Retell it back: “Now you tell me the story.”
  • Puppets and play: act out the story to make the events stick.

Practice with the exercises above, then download these free printable worksheets:

Practice Exercises

Try these on your own, then reveal the answer to check.

  1. After reading a story about a dog and a cat, who were the characters?

    💡 Characters are the people or animals in the story.

  2. Where did the story happen? (the story was about the beach)

    💡 Where is the setting of the story.

  3. What did the boy do at the start of the story?

    💡 Think about what happened first.

  4. In 'The Red Hen', what did the hen find?

    💡 Remember the beginning of the story.

  5. Why did the hen eat the bread herself at the end?

    💡 The animals all said 'Not I'.

  6. Tell me one thing that happened in the story.

    💡 Retell one event in your own words.

Printable Worksheets

Put this lesson into practice with free, printable worksheets — each with an answer key.

Kindergarten Reading Comprehension: The Red Hen Kindergarten Reading: The Big Slide Reading Comprehension: The Lost Puppy

Before You Start

  • Letter recognition
  • Sight words

Common Mistakes to Watch For

  • Retelling the story by memorizing the words instead of understanding the events
  • Answering a 'where' question with a 'who' answer

What to Learn Next

Browse more Reading Comprehension worksheets or explore all Kindergarten worksheets.

Related Worksheets

Frequently Asked Questions

What is reading comprehension in kindergarten?

Understanding stories — who is in them, what happens, and where. Kindergarteners typically listen to a story and answer questions or retell it, even before they can read it themselves.

How do I help my kindergartner understand stories?

After each story, ask simple questions: who was in it? what happened first/next/last? where did it happen? Have them retell the story in their own words using the pictures.

Original & reviewed. Every worksheet is created in-house from a grade-level skill brief, checked for a correct answer key, and reviewed for grade-appropriateness. Our editorial policy.