This study evaluated the effect of an explicit comprehension read-aloud routine of science content on first grade students’ listening comprehension.The read-aloud routine taught the structures common in the informational text (compare, contrast, and compare-contrast) and found in first grade science big books with the goal of improving understanding of the science content. Students who received the intervention showed improvements in their ability to understand the compare-contrast text structures compared to students who were taught the same content without the routine or students who were taught typical science read-aloud content without the routine. Observations revealed that teachers who were most consistent in implementing high quality comprehension strategies during the read aloud had students who made the best gains in listening comprehension of the content, regardless of whether the teachers used explicit text the compare-contrast text structure routine.The results demonstrated that even though the instruction of the compare-contrast text structures was not necessary to produce listening comprehension of science content, the compare-contrast instruction added value to the high quality comprehension instruction for students assigned to the intervention group. The results of the study are discussed in terms of the available research on instruction of informational text structures in the early grades. Recommendations for future research are provided.