How can climate change affect our water supply? Have kids read a passage about the water cycle and water conservation, which includes six questions that challenge them to use context clues.

Why do certain animals look the way they do? It could be because they have developed camouflage. Kids can read up on camouflage and mimicry and then respond to five questions related to the content of the passage.

This reading comprehension instructional activity, modeled after the SAT, includes a passage written by a sociologist and 8 multiple choice questions. Ten minutes is allocated for this practice test.

This reading comprehension worksheet includes a passage titled, "The Balloon Popper," as well as 5 multiple choice questions. Answers are included on page 3.

As part of a study of Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, class members respond to, and craft, higher-level comprehension questions based on passages from the text. 

As teachers, it is our job to encourage learners to stand up for what they believe in and help them learn lessons from life's events. A set of practice questions designed for the ELA MCAS assessment features passages that teach positive...

Individuals read a series of passages from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, rank the statements from the least to the most racist or stereotypical, and share their rankings and rationales in small groups before a whole class...

A guided imagery exercise draws class members into a particularly intense scene in Edward Bloor's Tangerine. After listening to a reading of an excerpt from the text, participants respond to a series of questions and then share their...

A three-day assessment challenges scholars to read a passage from an informational text then complete two activities that lead to a writing assignment. Day one and two begin as readers independently read a passage and tag the most...

A paragraph from Anna Sewell's Black Beauty provides middle schoolers an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in a passage.

Louisa May Alcott's third novel about Josephine March, spunky-sister-turned-successful-writer, is the focus of a reading comprehension activity. As class members read an excerpt from the third chapter of Jo's Boys, they answer four...

Many teachers and districts want to give their pupils test-taking practice before state standardized testing occurs. Here's a resource that features a complete exam with numerous passages, a variety of item types, a conversion chart, and...

It can be difficult to refer back to a text when analyzing it, so annotation is a great tool for kids to track what they are reading. A thorough and well-organized lesson guides learners through the process of annotating William...

Tired of searching for complex passages suitable for high school level assessments? A challenging examination includes numerous complex text excerpts as well as question items to match them. Learners analyze literary elements, author's...

What's it like to be a comedian? Find out with a short cloze passage about the life of a comedian. Kids use eight words at the bottom of the page to fill in the blanks throughout the passage.

Celebrate the Festival of Lights with a reading of the story of the Maccabees. Elementary learners discover how Hanukkah came to be with comprehension questions and fun activities for a full lesson during the holidays.

Using a paragraph from Jack London's Call of the Wild, readers demonstrate their ability to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in a passage.

A passage about solar eclipses provides readers with an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in an article.

This discussion guide accompanies the fiction book Midnight Magic written by Avi, enforces story elements, inferences, and theme/plot. Have the class work on it over time, it will engage even your reluctant readers. 

Asking questions about the text is a great way for kids to become self-sufficient readers. Use the question-and-response strategy (QAR) to get them thinking about John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. After they read select...

3D printers, selfie sticks, smart watches. GPS, self-driving cars, YouTube. Imagine life without inventions. Believe it or not, these items were all invented in the last 10 years. Inventions, and the inventors responsible for them,...

Jo March is all grown up in Louisa May Alcott's Little Men, and a new generation of children is benefitting from her tutelage. Young learners read a passage from the novel before answering four comprehension questions about plot details...

How could you decide which of your late mother's possessions are important enough to take to college with you? Decide which items would be the most valuable to you with an activity based on Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter. After...

Sad, depressed, miserable, inconsolable, forlorn: so many synonyms have a lot of variety with their connotations. Through the guided imagery activity, writers explore the use of connotation and its influence on imagery and description by...