Are you looking for simple reading comprehension passages with activities for your beginner and low-intermediate adult ESL students? Look no further!
Each of these reading comprehension passages comes with a set of questions for beginners and a set for intermediate-level students.
Students will be able to relate to these topics and they will hone important reading comprehension and vocabulary skills.
These are perfect for teaching a multi-level class! They are also appropriate for high school ELL and MLL newcomers. No prep required!
Reading Comprehension Passages for ESL
What’s Included in Each Lesson
– Pre-reading vocabulary activities
– A simple, relatable, fictional reading passage about Maria, an English learner from Mexico who is living in the U.S.
– Multiple choice questions for beginners
– Short answer questions for intermediate-level students
– A writing task to connect the reading to students’ lives and experiences
– A teacher’s guide with step-by-step lesson instructions, ideas for varying the activities, additional activity ideas, and an answer key
Topics for Each Reading Passage
1. Meet Maria – Get to know Maria! I recommend using this passage first.
2. Maria Likes to Cook – This passage is about Maria’s passion for cooking
3. Maria Shops – This reading has vocabulary and phrases that people use when grocery shopping.
4. Maria’s Daily Routine – This reading has the simple present verb tense, times of the day, and time signal words like usually, sometimes, after, and next.
5. Maria’s Apartment – This reading has there is and there are, the simple present verb tense, and prepositions of location.
6. Maria’s Best Friend – This passage is about the similarities and differences between Maria and her best friend. It has the simple present verb tense and language for comparing and contrasting. There is a Venn diagram activity.
7. Maria Bakes a Cake – This reading has the simple present verb tense and takes the reader through a simple process – baking a cake!
8. Maria Applies for a Job – This reading is about Maria applying for a job at a bakery.
9. Maria Goes on a Trip – In this reading, Maria and her son, Luis, go on a trip to San Diego!
10. Maria Gets Sick – Maria gets a cold and has a telemedicine appointment with her doctor.
Print worksheets or use as digital, fillable PDFs!
Use these reading lessons if you are short on prep time, or you can use them as sub plans!
Want more tips for teaching reading? Check out my tips for how to teach reading.
Teaching beginners? Check out these tips for how to teach beginner ESL.