10 Reading Comprehension Activities

Reading Comprehension Activities

If you want to get better at reading, then it’s best to pick up a book and start reading!

But if you want some targeted reading comprehension activities, then try out some of the activities below.

While some focus on solving a puzzle, others are short stories where you just need to understand what you’re reading.

Let’s get started.

1. Brother Rivalry Short Story

This is a short story about two brothers who love to compete!

Students have to fill in the blanks with a selection of words at the bottom of the story.

This reading comprehension activity is meant to be done individually.

But you can easily adapt it to a whole classroom setting.

2. Einstein’s Riddle

This is a challenging detective-style activity that is believed to be created by Albert Einstein, himself!

The focus is on reading the clues carefully and using logic to solve the riddle.

But the key is figuring out which clues to use first to fill in the nationality, pet, drink, color, and hobby of each homeowner.

This can be a head-scratcher activity even for the brightest students.

3. Famous Politicians

First, students have to read the names of the 8 famous politicians on the worksheet.

Next, they have to read a brief description of each politician on the right.

After they identify the photo of the politician, they can match the leader’s name with the description.

4. Adverbs of Frequency

This is a reading comprehension activity that practices adverbs of frequency.

In other words, it expresses how often an event occurs.

After reading the sentence, students fill in the adverb of frequency that is true to themselves.

How often do you eat breakfast? How often do you go to the library?

5. Stand-Up Bingo

Stand-Up Bingo gets students moving and asking questions.

Students have to read their bingo sheets and walk around asking questions to their fellow classmates.

Only when the student answers “yes”, they can mark an “X” in the square.

After they get a line in their bingo card, they can sit down at their desk.

6. Occupations Matching

This activity is about reading occupations and their job title definitions.

They have to match all 17 careers with the correct definitions.

From farmers to astronauts, can students find the right job titles?

After students finish the first part of the worksheet, can they think of other job titles? In addition, can they create a definition for the jobs they brainstorm?

7. Linking Verbs

Read all 15 sentences in the worksheet. After reading each sentence, they have to circle the linking verbs.

Linking verbs do not show actions. Instead, they link a subject to a noun or adjective in a sentence.

For example, in the sentence “I feel sick”, the linking verb “feel” connects to the adjective “sick”. And the subject in the sentence is “I”.

8. Timeless Timelines

This is just a quick history lesson for inventions and historical figures.

From paper to the printing press, can students identify the chronological order of these inventions?

From youngest to oldest, can students arrange the timeline according to their birth date?

It’s challenging, but students have to read through each name and invention.

9. Helping Verbs

Students read each sentence carefully. Next, they have to circle the action verb and underline the helping verb.

Generally, we use helping verbs to complement action verbs. For the majority of the time, the helping been goes before the action verb.

For example, in the sentence “he should listen in class” – “should” is the helping verb, and “listen” is the action verb.

10. Detective Clues

In the detective clues activity, students have to read clues and remember what they read.

After they read all the clues, they have to solve the puzzle in the worksheet.

It’s not as challenging as Einstein’s Riddle. But it’s still fun for younger students.

And best of all, they can practice reading comprehension.

Reading Comprehension Activities

These targeted reading comprehension activities are great for classrooms of any size.

They add a bit of fun to reading, challenging students to solve a problem or read a short story.

Do you have any other ideas we can add to this list?

Please let us know with a comment below.