Reading comprehension is a big part of Language Arts, but why is reading comprehension so important?

4 Reasons to Prioritize Reading Comprehension

State Standards

First, many state standards are centered around reading comprehension. So, to make sure your classroom is aligned to common core state standards (or whichever standards your state uses) you have to teach reading comprehension skills.

Communication

Second, reading comprehension improves communication. Both reading comprehension and communication require a strong vocabulary and an understanding of grammar. These things help students become more precise and clear when speaking and writing.

Understanding Other Subjects

Next, reading comprehension must come before almost every other school subject and skill. Students need reading comprehension to benefit from history lessons, science books, and even to be able to read the directions on a worksheet!

Understanding … Everything!

Finally, reading comprehension skills help students remember and be able to utilize what they are reading. If students can’t understand what they read, why read at all? Reading comprehension will help them understand the lessons and curriculum you undoubtedly use in your classroom. Reading comprehension skills are required to do well on standardized tests too. 

Learning to Read, Reading to Learn

In the primary grades, students concentrate on learning to read, but as students get older, reading is not just a skill they must master, but a tool they use. 

As they say, “learn to read, read to learn”. Third grade is about when this shift happens - when students go from learning to decode words to reading to understand new concepts. Students shift from reading fluency (phonics, decoding, speed, expression) to understanding characters, themes, points of view, and so much more. 

There’s a shift to reading comprehension! 

When this shift happens, there’s a whole new world that opens up to our young students.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

If you’re familiar with Bloom’s Taxonomy, think about the 6 steps. The first step is to remember: remember the sounds each letter makes as you sound out the words, remember what the text said after you read it - whether or not you understand what it’s saying!

The second tier of Bloom’s Taxonomy is to understand. This is what reading comprehension is - to explain concepts, restate information in your own words, and describe what the text is communicating.

The higher tiers of Bloom’s Taxonomy can only come after students have the reading comprehension component in place.

Check out more information about Bloom’s Taxonomy HERE.

Reading Comprehension in Primary Grades

While there is a shift in third grade from learning to read to reading to learn, it is important that we introduce the concept of reading comprehension early on. This is not a sequential step. Students should be learning reading comprehension alongside decoding skills.

By around 3rd grade, students should have basic decoding skills mastered, but students from kindergarten (and even before) and beyond should always be practicing reading comprehension skills.

6 Activities to Practice Reading Comprehension

So, if reading comprehension skills are so important, what can you do in the classroom to help students practice these skills?

Download FREE resources for the 6 reading comprehension strategies as well as several vocabulary activities. There are over 50 pages!

1. Socratic Soccer Ball

Take a cheap soccer ball and write a question on each section. Use the FREEBIE from this blog as a guide to finding reading comprehension questions that align with common core state standards. 

After reading a book or a chapter of a novel, take some time to stop and gently toss the Socratic soccer ball around. When a student catches it, he or she has to answer the question that their right thumb lands on. If they land on a black space, they can choose a question in any of the white spaces around it to answer.

You can do this same activity with a guided reading beach ball. Just use a beach ball from your local dollar store and fewer questions.

2. Inner-Outer Circle Discussion

Divide your class into two. Have one half of your class form a circle, facing outward. Have the rest of your class form a bigger circle around them, pairing up with another student.

Have students take turns asking each other questions about any read aloud. Depending on your class, you can make this open to whatever questions students want to ask, or you can have a list of questions for students to choose from.

You can also consider giving them a question category to choose from (like story elements, character traits, setting, plot, point-of-view), but let the students come up with their own questions.

To make this activity even more fun, you can use the list of movement poems in the FREEBIE from this blog to have kids move around the circle in between questions.

3. Roll and Chat Dice

Playing roll and chat dice is an excellent reading comprehension activity that can help your students develop and reinforce their comprehension strategies. The game provides a fun and interactive way for students to work on basic story understanding and to explore the story structure.

By answering questions about the plot, characters, setting, and theme, students can improve their comprehension skills and gain a deeper understanding of the story. This type of hands-on, engaging activity is a great way to make reading comprehension a part of your students' everyday routine.

Use the worksheets in the FREE download (and dice) to help your students with their reading skills using generic comprehension questions.

4. Jenga Comprehension

Playing a Jenga comprehension game is an innovative way to enhance reading comprehension activities in the classroom. This game provides an engaging way for students to work on their comprehension skills by incorporating a physical activity into their learning experience.

By writing a reading comprehension question on each Jenga block, students are exposed to a variety of questions that test their understanding of a reading passage. Use the FREE download for a list of suggested reading comprehension questions that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

When a student pulls out a block, they must answer the question listed on it before putting the block back on top. This helps students to focus on the important details in a story and improves their ability to recall information.

Additionally, the game can be adapted for different reading levels, making it a versatile and useful tool for teachers. This type of activity not only makes learning fun, but it also helps students to complete their reading comprehension objectives in a unique and entertaining way.

5. Headbanz

This engaging reading comprehension activity can be easily created with index cards and is inspired by the popular game Headbanz. By writing the names of characters, settings, and other elements like plot and theme, you can give your students an opportunity to practice reading comprehension strategies.

Before the game starts, find index cards at a local dollar store or even use blank pieces of paper cut to size.

During the game, students take turns drawing cards and holding them up to their forehead where they can’t see what’s written, but their classmates can. Then, students take turns asking questions of each other until they have enough information to guess what their card is. (Only yes or no questions allowed!)

This type of activity can be a fun and interactive way for students to improve their reading comprehension skills and identify key elements of a story.

It can also be a useful tool for struggling readers who need extra support in developing their comprehension abilities. With a little creativity, you can easily integrate this game into your lesson ideas and provide your students with an enjoyable way to work on their reading comprehension.

Download the FREE resources to go along with these 6 strategies as well as vocabulary resources. This is a 50-page FREEBIE!

6. Jeopardy

Playing Jeopardy is a fun and interactive way to test your students' comprehension after reading a book in class. This game can help students to engage with the material they have just read and to apply their reading strategies to answer questions about the book.

By having the book handy, you can ensure that students have access to the information they need to answer questions correctly. You can use a specific Jeopardy game that is related to the book you read, or you can use this one with generic questions that can be used with any story.

This type of activity allows students to identify key elements of the story, such as characters, setting, plot, and theme, and to demonstrate their understanding of these elements in a competitive and entertaining way.

The whole class can participate, making it a great way to foster a collaborative learning environment while also challenging students to improve their reading comprehension skills.

If you’d like ready-to-go interactive Jeopardy games for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade reading comprehension aligned to Common Core State Standards, click on the buttons below. These games have a built-in scoreboard and can be used with any book.

The Importance of Vocabulary

Reading comprehension is an important skill that allows students to understand and retain information from a reading passage. For this to occur, students need to have a strong vocabulary and a sufficient background knowledge that is necessary to comprehend what they are reading.

This can sometimes be a challenge, especially for students who struggle with reading comprehension. In these cases, it may be that the issue lies in language, rather than in reading strategies or comprehension skills. This highlights the importance of ensuring that students have a strong foundation in language skills, in addition to actively engaging in reading activities, such as answering comprehension questions or participating in read-alouds.

By encouraging active reading and engaging students in fun games and activities, they can build their vocabulary, background knowledge, and overall comprehension abilities. This, in turn, will help them to better understand and retain information from the reading passages they encounter.

Check out my blog post titled 14 Ways to Teach Vocabulary to keep students engaged as you teach vocabulary.

Find Reading Literature resources below, or click here.

Conclusion

Reading comprehension is a vital ability that has a significant impact on academic achievement, communication, personal growth, and self-development. To foster strong comprehension skills, it is essential for teachers to create opportunities for practice.

This can be done by using appropriate texts and providing comprehension activities, such as writing questions for students to answer.

By doing so, students can build their reading comprehension skills, identify key elements of a story, and draw upon their prior knowledge to better understand what they are reading.

With the right resources, guidance, and support, students can develop into proficient readers, leading to improved academic and professional outcomes.