Reading Comprehension - Light bulb brain moments made EASY!

Reading comprehension is an essential skill for any elementary grade. Typically this comes in the form of question and answer passages.

If you are looking for unique reading comprehension ideas (not to mention free ones!) check out this list for great ones to try today!

Strategies to improve reading comprehension with passages

I used to think that reading comprehension revolved all around rote practice of story and questions – wrong!

There are many ways to practice reading comprehension when students aren’t even thinking about it.

reading books aloud (listening) is a hugely underrated part of comprehension
vocabulary building – this helps build confidence with words students are likely to encounter
summarizing techniques – as a class or in small groups to build comprehension skills
use all learning styles – incorporate drawing, feeling, and even smelling with your books to help all students comprehend. We once baked a cake from the book “A Tangle of Knots” which helped us related to characters and the book itself.
Find good books/passages – CHOICE! Let students choose what they read and they are guaranteed to be much more invested.

Favorite Comprehension Games:

Free printable games to enhance your reading comprehension (and test prep!)

Now let’s put those reading comprehension strategies to use! Use this list of free resources to enhance and support successful students in your classroom!

Listening Centers focused on reading strategies! With no prep these are ready to go and great to focus on the listening work of comprehension!

listening center, QR listening center, listening center response sheet, listening standards, free listening center,

Reading Passages – have these on hand for sub plans or to dig deep in reading comprehension!

Reading Comprehension Passages #readingcomprehension

Comprehension with a color code?! This is an exceptional twist that really uses both sides of the brain! See how the answers create a picture!

Work on reading comprehension while reading – use these bookmarks to support learners while they are in their own texts (again….choice!)

Nonfiction comprehension – This insect task cards are perfect! Nonfiction can be so tricky it is important again to use lots of strategies for comprehension!

Insects Nonfiction Reading Comprehension Task Cards

Vocabulary building is another important focus. This activity is easy to set up and really challenges vocabulary use and recognition!

ranking words shades of meaning vocabulary activity

Even focusing on one aspect of reading strategies such as main idea can help the overall reading comprehension for students!

Having students record their reading can sometimes be tedious but not with this gorgeous reading log bookshelf. So much more fun than the traditional version and what a great memento for the end of the year as well to reflect on what has been read.

Free bookshelf reading log template to record books read. #bulletjournal #reading

Another twist on reading logs involves Challenges! I don’t know about you but students love to complete challenges and it really ups the motivation.

This is a fun reading log and challenge that your students can use to keep track of their reading time! #reading #bestresourceever #freebie

Poetry is another type of reading that is important for comprehension but often overlooked. As it can be difficult and students need exposure be sure to grab this freebie and use it in your classroom!