There are many ways to strengthen your students’ literacy skills. Reading comprehension is a vital skill that applies to many components of being a reader and literate person.
Reading comprehension will allow your students to understand the information they are reading, which goes beyond reading the passages fluently.
Understanding the information in the text passages they are reading will allow them to answer questions about the text more accurately.
They will also be able to use evidence from the text to support opinions and summarize the information, among other skills.
Check out these 38 reading activities below that help support your 5th grade students as they strengthen their reading comprehension skills.
1. Bloom Balls
This 3D activity will really make learning come to life as your students learn about reading comprehension. This activity can be used in a variety of different ways. You could write about the main character or your classes’ opinions, as just a few examples. You can even include a creative writing prompt or comprehension questions that relate to the text.
Learn More: Coffee Cups Lesson Plans
2. Compare the Characters
This compare-the-characters resource is perfect for discussing a protagonist and antagonist. Having a discussion about what it means to compare and contrast two different things and how to find similarities will have to take place beforehand using this writing worksheet.
Learn More: FCRR
3. Volcano Graphic Organizer
This volcano is a fun graphic, that students can relate to, that can be customized. Sequencing the story, discussing character traits, or looking at your impressions, like the graphic above, can help students comprehend the information they are reading. This is especially fun to work through with fiction stories that are written at a fifth-grade reading level.
Learn More: Student Treasures
4. Wanted Poster
This activity is especially fun because it takes a different approach to most literary activities. Most literary activities focus heavily on the protagonist or hero of the story whereas this assignment allows students to write a blurb about the antagonist or villain after reading the 5th grade reading passage or a different level entirely depending on their level of reading.
Learn More: Education
5. Make a Timeline
Your students can make a timeline using their fictional or nonfictional pieces of text. Depending on their reading level, they can use pictures or words. This assignment deals heavily with the skill of sequencing the story by putting the events in the correct order. They can present their work after they are finished to work on their oral reading as a reading exercise.
Learn More: Education
6. Anticipation Guide
This printable reading activity is very helpful when students are working on their prediction and inferring skills. Using pictures to make conclusions about the texts they are reading is an important part of reading comprehension. It is a reading comprehension worksheet that can be done as a whole class or in small groups.
Learn More: Reading Rockets
7. Lego Read and Build
Your students will enjoy retelling fiction texts and nonfiction texts using these fun lego pieces. A lot of students are already familiar with how to use these lego pieces, so they will already have some background knowledge going into this activity. This is a new way to integrate learning and creativity inside an exciting reading challenge!
Learn More: The Educator’s Pin On It
8. Signal Words and Story Mats
This activity will help your students think about and reflect on the most important information in the story. Having them sort the who, what, where, and when of a story will help your students understand what they are reading that much more and reinforce their knowledge. This activity is a variation of the traditional story map idea. This can be done with fiction and nonfiction stories.
Learn More: This Reading Mama
9. Story Train
Writing out story elements in their own compartments when describing a story they read or wrote themselves can help students comprehend these facets more deeply. Your students can get as creative as they like when designing their train, which will appeal to students who are hesitant.
Learn More: Steamsational
10. After Story Spinner
This after story spinner gives the instructor many examples of sentence stems to generate conversation and discussion among the students. This activity can be done with the students working in pairs, individually as a written assignment, or as a whole class. These are important questions for students to answer.
Learn More: Teacher Sherpa
11. Interactive Notebooks
Use this activity throughout your student’s interactive notebooks to introduce the different genres to your students. In the fifth grade, it’s important to know and understand different literary genres. Pair this with some interactive resources or a writing worksheet.
Learn More: Principal in Pink Heels
12. Book Cafe
Bringing the atmosphere of a cafe into your reading classroom might just be the perfect integration into enhancing your students reading. Students will love filling in their laminated placemats with information from each book. Plot twist, those placemats even act as Graphic Organizers providing your students with fun and exciting comprehension practice.
Learn More: Christina McCartney
13. Begin Reading Minilessons
Begin your reading units with these mini-lessons! These can be really tailored to any unit, book, comprehension passage, or story you’re reading with your fifth graders. Help to establish strong prereading foundations.
Learn More: Literacy Treasures
14. Writing Understanding for Strong Reading Comprehension
Boosting your kiddo’s writing will inevitably help them to become stronger in the realm of reading comprehension. Adding a scaffold like this anchor chart into your classroom will be the perfect way to help your students grasp a better understanding of what they’re writing. Break down a 5th-grade reading passage and have students find each sticky note.
Learn More: 2 Kinder and Beyond
15. Before, During, After
These before, during, and after bookmarks will help give students a guide throughout their entire reading process. Students can read and use these bookmarks at their own pace and integrate it into whichever story or novel they are reading. Provide students with the skills they need to fully enforce active reading.
Learn More: Literacy Treasures
16. Build Some Reading Stamina
This is a super fun activity that students will love to complete. Understanding the stamina of themselves and others in the classroom will be very helpful to the enhancement of their knowledge.
Learn More: Literacy Treasures
17. Character Trait Comics
Fifth-graders love comics. In my experience, teaching fifth-grade in the US and in various countries, every 10-12-year-old loves these books! They’re fun, they’re interactive, and most of all, they’re creative. Your kiddos will love these character trait comic strips.
Learn More: The Teacher Next Door
19. Reading Binders
Skip the reading notebooks this year, and have students create their own reading binders. Take it to a new level. Students will love the idea of having their own binders and being treated as more mature. You and teachers in the future will love the organization skills they’ve developed over time.
Learn More: Literacy Treasures
20. Literature Circles
Being comfortable will surely enhance students’ love for reading time. Being able to go places that aren’t normally allowed makes the reading experience that much more desirable. Literature circles also help to enhance students’ oral reading.
Learn More: Mrs. Bishop 2022
21. Blurb Work
Independent reading is a qualification in the fifth grade. Independent reading helps not only build student comprehension but also a comprehensive vocabulary. Blurb work will help students to choose and understand books just by reading “blurbs”.
Learn More: Literacy Treasures
22. Sticky Notes and W Questions
I honestly have met very few fifth graders who aren’t excited about sticky notes. Most of my kiddos almost reach a new level of excitement when it comes to sticky notes. This is a great idea for answering different W questions after reading.
Learn More: The Cre8tive Author
23. Reading Workshop Checklist
If you’re a teacher, you have a pretty good understanding of the importance of smoothly running reading workshops. If they’re not smooth, they’re chaos. Giving students strong direction will give them the space and confidence to work independently.
Learn More: Kenneson’s Kreations
24. Book Tournament
Finding different ways to persuade your kiddos to read is always challenging. If you’ve got basketball lovers in your fifth grade this year, I strongly recommend this book tournament to get them motivated and reading both at home and in the classroom!
Learn More: Miraculous Journey From Mrs. Miller
25. Dreamy Conclusions
Making conclusions gets more and more difficult as students progress in age. Dreamy conclusions is a game that students will love to play, but will also purposefully benefit from.
Learn More: Farrah Henley Education
26. Sight Word Challenge
5th grade sight words help students to have a wider range of vocabulary retention. This, in turn, will help your students to develop both stronger comprehension and overall improved fluency.
Learn More: Teacher Calai
27. Reading Comprehension Jenga
Jenga can be used for various activities. It’s never a bad idea to get a wooden Jenga set to integrate into your classroom. It can be tailored to really any subject you’re teaching.
Pro tip: Write different comprehension questions on pieces of paper and tape them on so that they can be removed and the blocks can be used elsewhere.
28. Frog Songs
Use this video in your classroom to have students listen or read about the different sounds frogs make. There are comprehension questions at the end of this video, which can be used to assess student comprehension understanding or as practice in small reading groups.
Learn More: Hype Math
29. Read Aloud Books
Read-alouds are important for really any grade. There’s no doubt kids love hearing adults read to them. In the case that you don’t have the time or need some time to yourself throughout the day (no hard feelings, we’ve all been there). Playing a read-aloud on the projector or smart board is still giving your kiddos what they need to become better readers! There are a ton of fifth-grade reading-level book options available!
Learn More: 26 Suggested 5th Grade Read Aloud Books
30. 5th Grade Spelling Bee
My kiddos absolutely love when we have a spelling bee in the classroom. This can be used at any time that your kids need a little break from the intensity that can be fifth grade. Although this isn’t directly a reading activity, becoming better spellers, leads to higher fluency, which in turn, reflects better comprehension.
Learn More: Thomas 8 April
31. Disney Characters Brain Break
By reading into the context clues provided in the pictures, students will develop deeper thinking skills. This is a really special skill for students to have and this video makes it fun and active! It’s secretly an exciting reading challenge for your students.
Learn More: PE with Coach Shockley
32. Island of the Blue Dolphin
Island of the Blue Dolphin is hands down a fifth-grade favorite! Filled with so many different aspects of reading comprehension, this book is essential to bring into the classroom. Use this video as a read-aloud for students whose fluency isn’t quite as strong as you need to be to reach a high level of comprehension.
Learn More: Saeed English
33. Riddles
Developing metalinguistic awareness is extremely helpful for increasing reading comprehension skills. One way to do that is through riddles. Riddles help students to distance themselves from what they’re seeing or reading and make sense of it.
Think outside the box, if you will.
Learn More: 100 Riddles To Keep Your Students Engaged and Entertained!
34. Understanding Figurative Language
Having a basic understanding of Figurative Language is vital in the fifth grade. Set your kiddos up for success with this Figurative Language activity. This can be played in a variety of different ways and will work great for students in small groups.
Learn More: Wordwall
35. Create Your Own Activity
Wordwall.net has so many opportunities for teachers to create their own super fun activities. These activities can literally be tailored to any subject or topic that you’ve been teaching in the classroom. Simple make a free account and get to creating!
Learn More: Wordwall
36. Listening Comprehension
Work on your students’ listening comprehension with this video. Your students will love how simple these questions are, but will also develop a better understanding of what they hear and how to talk about it.
Learn More: iSL Collective
37. Create a Comprehension Video Lesson
Edpuzzle is a super tool you can use to create your very own video lessons. Video lessons are something a bit different for your kiddos and can really engage them with the learning! You can use Edpuzzle to create a video, include any of your own original or sourced online material, and add questions or prompts. This tutorial shows you everything you’ll need to know!
Learn More: YouTube
38. Evan-Moor Daily Reading Comprehension
These daily reading review comprehension pages are so helpful for kids in all grades. In some cases, schools will use them throughout the grade and kids will be familiar with the setup. Integrating these short readings into your fifth-grade classroom will be very beneficial to all of your students.
Learn More: Amazon
Final Thoughts
Literacy is one of the core focuses of many schools whether you are focusing on reading, writing, or comprehension. These activities are fun and interesting for students to participate in and they can be tailored to suit the needs of your students.
Using games, assignments, and hands-on materials can allow your students to make connections that go beyond the surface level of understanding that they would achieve if they were only doing worksheets. These reading comprehension activities incorporate comprehension questions for your students to answer using different mediums. Question banks are available in some of these ideas as well to support students and give them prompts.
23 Moon Crafts For Kids: Art Projects, Sensory Plays, And Edibles