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Proofreading Editing Worksheets

Printable proofreading worksheets for building grammar, spelling, and writing skills. Each file has a short paragraph on it. Students read carefully and look for errors in capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.

Editing Passages

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Manipulative Editing Wheels

Proofreading bookmarks.

Correct the errors in the sentences. This series can be used as a daily or weekly review, or use the individual worksheets for extra practice.

These worksheets feature practice with periods, question marks, exclamation points, commas, and quotation marks.

Worksheets for sentences, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and more.

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PDF with answer key:

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EnglishForEveryone.org

Paragraph correction worksheets terms of use, beginning level paragraph correction worksheets.

• Answer Key - This is the answer key to beginning level worksheets.
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 1
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 2
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 3
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 4
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 5
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 6
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 7
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 8
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 9
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 10
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 11
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 12
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 13
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 14
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 15

Intermediate Level Paragraph Correction Worksheets

• Answer Key - This is the answer key to intermediate level worksheets.
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 1
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 2
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 3
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 4
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 5
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 6
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 7
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 8
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 9
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 10
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 11
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 12
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 13
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 14
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 15

Advanced Level Paragraph Correction Worksheets

• Answer Key - This is the answer key to advanced level worksheets.
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 1
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 2
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 3
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 4
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 5
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 6
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 7
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 8
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 9
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 10

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Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

Editing and Proofing Worksheets

A vital skill for young writers is to be able to revise and edit their writing. Recognizing an error in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and word usage takes some practice. The worksheets listed below give your student this important practice. You may use them for free in your classroom or at home. To read more about them or to download a printable PDF, simply click on the title. Check out all of our writing worksheets !

Make the Spelling Corrections

Encourage your students to look for spelling corrections with this “Correcting, Proofing, and Editing” worksheet.

Correct It!

Use this “Correcting, Proofing, and Editing” activity to teach your students the importance of proofreading by correcting spelling mistakes.

Correct the Paragraph

Have your students proofread and correct paragraphs with this helpful editing worksheet.

Correct the Spelling

Teaching your students to correct spelling is made easier with this helpful, printable writing activity.

Correcting Mistakes: Rewrite the Sentences

Encourage your students to check for sentence mistakes with this “Rewrite the Sentences” classroom activity.

Spot It: Unnecessary Words

Practice identifying unnecessary words with this printable worksheet on editing and proofing. Students will be asked to read through a series of sentences and circle the ones that contain unnecessary words. This activity is great for use both at home and in the classroom.

Spot It! Faulty Coordination

Help your students with their reading and writing skills by using this printable activity in class. With this worksheet on editing and proofing, students will be asked to read through ten sentences and identify the ones that contain faulty coordination. Ideal for 5th – 8th grade, but can be used where appropriate.

Correcting Mistakes in Sentences

Use these printable learning materials to teach your students how to correct sentence mistakes.

Editing and Proofing a Paragraph

Your students will further their editing and proofing skills by correcting a paragraph in this printable classroom worksheet.

Find the Misplaced Modifiers

See if you can identify the other misplaced modifiers in this printable grammar worksheet. This grammar activity for middle school students is great for improving reading and writing skills. While it is ideal for 7th – 9th grade, it can be used where needed. This misplaced modifiers activity is perfect for both parents and teachers to use in the classroom or at home.

Spelling: What’s Wrong, and What’s Right?

Your students will learn the difference between right and wrong in spelling with this “Proofing and Editing” worksheet.

Spot it! Which Are Grammatically Correct?

With this printable worksheet on editing and proofing, students will be asked to circle the number of the sentence that is grammatically correct. Ideal for 6th – 12th grade students, but can be used where needed.

Correct Spelling: Right or Wrong

In this “Right or Wrong” classroom activity, your students will correct spelling mistakes while proofreading the sentences on this worksheet.

Find It! Faulty Parallel Construction

Practice recognizing faulty parallel construction by completing this printable worksheet. This activity focuses on refining editing and proofing skills. It is ideal for high school students, but can be used where appropriate. Because it is made easy to print, this worksheet is great for use both at home and in the classroom by parents, teachers, or students. Click the link below to download and print the worksheet to get started.

Paragraph: Proofing and Editing

Use this “Printable Writing Worksheet” to help get in the routine of proofing and editing.

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April 27, 2018 CG Lessons K-5 , ELA K-5 , ELA Resources - Activities , ELA Focus - Writing , ELA Focus - Grammar , Core Grammar

A fun proofreading activity for students in grades 3–5, by: tiffany rehbein.

We all have had those moments. We have just hit the Send button on our email, and we see that one word. That one that is misspelled. That one that should have had an apostrophe. That one misplaced modifier, leaving your audience thinking that you saw dinosaurs on a field trip to the museum.

Download the Proofreading Activity for grades 3–5 now!

Proofreading activity for students grades 3–5.

Proofreading is a skill that must be practiced. As students’ progress through their schooling, this skill must be honed year after year. What better way to improve proofreading skills than through a fun proofreading activity !

The 20 cards provided here provide students an opportunity to write and practice a variety of opportunities to improve proofreading skills.

To begin this great proofreading activity, download the Proofreading Cards, Recording Sheet, and Answer Key. You can choose to laminate each Proofreading Card to extend its lifetime. Students will read the Proofreading Card and write their answer on the Recording Sheet.

You can print one set of cards per student or one total set and have students pass them around. The number on the Recording Sheet corresponds with the number on the Proofreading Card. You can quickly walk around and assess students or have students check each other’s work!

To help students improve their skills, download my proofreading activity now. Students can use this activity in centers or when there is extra time in class.

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Home » Blog Posts » ELA » Effective Editing Practice for Upper Elementary Students

Effective Editing Practice for Upper Elementary Students

How do you teach editing skills to elementary students? What are some strategies for revising writing? If you have ever asked these questions or anything similar, you’re in the right place! This post shares ideas that help with effective editing practice for upper elementary students. These revision exercises can be used for in-person and online learning.

PLUS you can grab some FREE editing and proofreading worksheets to use in your classroom.

The Main Problem with Editing Practice for Upper Elementary

Why do we need to teach revising in the writing process? Well, in a nutshell, it’s because every writer makes mistakes during the process.

Since our students are still learning important grammar rules, they are bound to make mistakes.

This makes editing practice for upper elementary essential!

But there’s one huge problem I’ve run into when teaching proofreading: getting students to apply it to their own writing.

Usually the process flows like this:

• my kiddos learn a grammar skill with a mentor sentence (WHOO-HOO!)
• they practice the skill in isolation and become masters at correcting that mistake (YAY!)
• then they turn around and make the same mistake in their own writing (UGHH!)

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not against mentor sentences or practicing grammar apart from writing.

In fact, I LOVE having daily grammar practice to sharpen those skills.

But in this post, I want to share effective ways to connect editing with writing. Not only that, but these ideas go beyond simple sentences with editing longer paragraphs.

Provide a Checklist of What Errors to Look For

Even though I adore using guessing games in the classroom, I don’t think they work for budding proofreaders.

For students who especially struggle with editing, having guidelines boost their confidence because they know what they are looking for.

So when I start teaching revising, I give my students a checklist of the types of errors they should correct.

We begin this process by focusing on paragraph correction worksheets before applying the checklist to their own paragraph writing.

This editing practice for upper elementary students works whether we are doing a whole group lesson or literacy centers.

By using these editing checklists consistently, students build “proofreading habits” that become second nature when they are correcting their own writing later.

The one caveat I will give here is that you must MODEL for your students how to use the checklist correctly!

Don’t just assume that they will refer to it on their own the very first time.

For this activity, I love the “I Do, We Do, You Do” approach. It allows me to demonstrate the correct editing technique, then monitor their practice before allowing them to use it independently.

Consistently Include Revising Practice Activities

In the first section, I mentioned a little word that leads to big results: HABITS.

After reading Atomic Habits by James Clear , I started looking for ways to apply his theories about habit building in my teaching.

Instead of being overwhelmed by one big writing unit, I make time for smaller editing assignments each day.

Around 10-15 minutes works for me.

I started asking myself, “In what ways am I allowing editing practice for my students?”

This question led to a list of ideas that can be used for upper elementary students:

• weekly paragraph editing worksheets during literacy centers
• proofreading task card activities
• putting students in small groups to correct writing on anchor charts
• peer editing activities
• finding memes, Tweets, and other “grammar mistakes” on the internet to correct

This is not the full list, but they are some of my favorite examples that have worked over the years.

Give Spiraled Grammar Editing Practice

To piggyback off the previous section, I have found amazing results with my students in the past when I spiraled my grammar lessons.

So first of all, what does it mean to “spiral” your lessons?

Spiral review in the classroom means that you are addressing skills and concepts repeatedly throughout the school year.

It is the opposite of just teaching a unit or academic standard once, testing students, then moving on.

When I spiral my grammar lessons, students complete weekly paragraph editing worksheets that revisit the revising skills we’ve already practiced.

Since they are combining this with editing checklists, they are getting effective practice every single week.

This video clip shows all of the academic standards that are covered in my 40-week grammar editing worksheet set which is available HERE in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Remember when I talked about building small habits?

This is why spiraling works wonders during editing practice for upper elementary students!

By consistently applying the same proofreading skills over time, students build stronger “editing muscles” when they revise their own writing.

Be Sure to Connect Editing with Writing

So far, I’ve shared quick tips on how to help students master revising and editing.

We started with editing checklists, moved on to consistent practice that includes spiraling grammar skills.

Now for the final piece of the puzzle: connecting editing with writing.

To solve the main problem with proofreading practice, students must immediately apply corrections to writing.

It’s not enough to just revise and edit grammar mistakes in isolation.

In the past, when I only gave proofreading worksheets, students would ace those activities, but then make the same grammar mistakes in their own writing.

Even though it takes extra time, I now have students rewrite the entire paragraph immediately after revising it!

This ensures that they make the connection between the work they did on editing with the skill of writing.

Then when they are writing their own paragraphs and essays, they are more likely to apply these grammar rules.

Don’t Leave Out the FUN!

Let’s face it, with all this editing practice, upper elementary students may get bored or burned out!

Which defeats the purpose.

So I make sure to give them paragraph proofreading topics that are engaging and interesting to read.

This is actually a bonus win-win they are getting practice editing AND practice reading informational text passages .

Once I teach students how to use our editing checklists and how to rewrite the paragraph correctly, then they can complete these independently while I focus on teaching a small group.

That’s the power of a good no-prep, spiraled grammar activity!

As long as I choose high-interest topics, students are free to consistently work on building their editing and writing skills.

To give you more insight into the types of topics I use, here’s a YouTube video that shows my Weekly Paragraph Editing Set with 40 weeks of spiraled revising and writing practice:

If you are interested in purchasing this resource for your class, it’s available HERE in my TpT store.

You can also grab this FREE sample of the editing resource–also from my TpT store.

But wait, what about the online learning part mentioned in the intro?

I wasn’t going to leave my online teacher friends hanging. All of my proofreading exercises come in a Google Slides version!

Your virtual learning students can slide the highlighting bar over each grammar mistake. Then they can type the entire paragraph with all of the corrections.

In-person teachers who are 1-to-1 can also use this digital feature in class.

Hopefully these simple tips give you some ideas for how to keep your students engaged with editing practice.

Let me know in the comments your biggest frustrations when teaching grammar.

Happy Teaching

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Proofreader teaches your students editing skills by having them proofread passages. Students edit passages and receive personalized exercises based on their results. With over 100 expository passages, Proofreader gives students the practice they need to spot common grammatical errors.

In Quill Proofreader, students are tasked with finding and correcting grammatical errors embedded within a passage. In this exercise on Ernest Shackleton, students have to find and correct 11 errors.

Students are provided instant feedback on their work once they’ve completed the proofreading. The errors the student missed are highlighted in red, while the errors the student caught are highlighted in green.

Teachers can use their scorebook report to quickly see which concepts the student mastered and which ones the student needs to practice.

Teachers may access, for free, over 100 expository passages.

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How to Proofread: For Elementary School

Writing is an essential skill that children will encounter in every class as they progress through their education. An important aspect of the writing process that is not always explicitly taught is proofreading and editing. These skills are honed over time, but it is never too early for young writers to begin learning the ins and outs of proofreading their work.

• Prepare students to begin proofreading by looking at one thing at a time. For instance, elementary schoolers may want to begin simply by looking for spelling errors. Narrowing their focus to just one aspect of the writing lessens the daunting feeling of having to perfect the writing in one fell swoop.
• Once spelling errors have been identified and corrected, encourage students to look now at punctuation and sentence structure. Does the punctuation and capitalization appear where necessary? Are the sentences clear? Are there transition words when needed? Can we possibly combine any sentences to increase the complexity level? Of course, some of these skills require explicit instruction, some of which will come later in elementary school language arts
• Perhaps the most important question that young writers should ask themselves before, during, and after proofreading is: Does my writing answer or address the prompt or question? Often times, especially with children that are just beginning to learn writing skills, the work takes on a mind of its own—kids get so into what they are writing, that they lose sight of the original purpose or focus. One way to help elementary schoolers identify this lack of focus or cohesion, is to provide visuals of the prompt, sentence frames, and checklists for final drafts.  

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Proofreading Exercises

Learn how to proofread by working through our library of proofreading exercises.

• Post author By Duncan Croker
• Post date August 24, 2020
• 4 Comments on Proofreading Exercises

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• Easy Exercises
• Medium Exercises
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In a digital world, it’s more important than ever to make sure your communications are error-free – you don’t want to be responsible for a press release that goes viral because of an awkward misspelling.

That’s why we’ve put together this collection of proofreading exercises to test your skills. Work your way up through the difficulty levels until you feel confident that you’ve mastered the required proofreading skills.

Download each exercise PDF to get started, then print it out or copy-paste it into Microsoft Word; once you’ve finished editing, cross-check the mistakes you found with the relevant answer sheet.

Answer sheets follow AP Stylebook conventions (where appropriate) and use British spelling. New proofreading exercises will be regularly added to this page. Note that the original sources contain the correct text – all mistakes have been added in for the purposes of the exercises.

Easy Proofreading Exercise 1

Exercise details.

Format: News Article

Source: ‘NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance hits back after claims Sydney ferries won’t fit under bridges.’

Easy Proofreading Exercise 2

Source:  ‘Now is the time to buy in the Melbourne property market.’

Easy Proofreading Exercise 3

Format: Blog Post

Source: How to Find the Noosa Fairy Pools

Easy Proofreading Exercise 4

Source: Marketing for Small Businesses

Medium Proofreading Exercise 1

Format: Annual Report

Source: Rio Tinto Annual Report 2019 – Strategic Report

Medium Proofreading Exercise 2

Source: The 11 Best Foods to Support Your Immune System

Medium Proofreading Exercise 3

Format: Online Article

Source: A Better Way to Map Brand Strategy

Medium Proofreading Exercise 4

Format: Online Publication

Source: Telstra s 87B Undertaking

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Hard Proofreading Exercise 1

Format: Academic Journal

Source: Passafaro, P. (2020). Attitudes and Tourists’ Sustainable Behavior: An Overview of the Literature and Discussion of Some Theoretical and Methodological Issues.  Journal of Travel Research, 59 (4), 579–601.  DOI: 10.1177/0047287519851171

Hard Proofreading Exercise 2

Source: Demirkol, S., & Cifci, I. (2020). Delving into the Role of Celebrity Chefs and Gourmets in Culinary Destination Marketing.  European Journal of Tourism Research, 26 , 2603. https://ejtr.vumk.eu/index.php/about/article/view/1934

Other Resources for Improving Your Proofreading

• Tags Proofreading

By Duncan Croker

Duncan is a copywriter with a background in editing and storytelling. He loves collaborating with brands big and small, and thrives on the challenges of hard marketing.

4 comments on “Proofreading Exercises”

This is great. It’s really helpful to see practical exercises. Thanks for putting this together!

Fantastic exercises, thank you for providing these!

These exercises have been really great. Thank you. I’m using them with my A level student in preparation for University where proofreading will be essential! The content is just right for his interest level too and short enough to keep his interest.

Hi Geraldine, it’s great to hear you and your student are finding the exercises helpful. We’ll hopefully add some more in the near future.

Comments are closed.

Are you a learner at A1 English level (elementary) ? This section offers reading practice to help you understand simple information, words and sentences about known topics. Texts include posters, messages, forms and timetables.

Each lesson has a preparation task, a reading text and two tasks to check your understanding and to practise a variety of reading skills. Make a start today.

Choose a reading lesson

A poster at work

Read an invitation to an office event to practise and improve your reading skills.

• Read more about A poster at work
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A poster for exam candidates

Read the poster outside an exam room to practise and improve your reading skills.

• Read more about A poster for exam candidates

A restaurant menu

Read a menu to practise and improve your reading skills. 

• Read more about A restaurant menu

A study timetable

Read a study timetable for a week in summer school in England to practise and improve your reading skills.

• Read more about A study timetable

An airport departures board

Read an airport departures board to practise and improve your reading skills. 

• Read more about An airport departures board

Business cards

Read four business cards to practise and improve your reading skills.

• Read more about Business cards

Dictionary definitions

Read dictionary definitions for academic words and review parts of speech to practise and improve your reading skills.

• Read more about Dictionary definitions

Holiday home adverts

Read two adverts for places to stay on holiday to practise and improve your reading skills. 

• Read more about Holiday home adverts

Job adverts

Read the four job adverts to practise and improve your reading skills.

• Read more about Job adverts

Notes at work

Read some short messages to practise and improve your reading skills.

• Read more about Notes at work

Student card application

Read an application form to practise reading official forms.

• Read more about Student card application

Text messages to a friend

Read a text conversation between two friends to practise and improve your reading skills. 

• Read more about Text messages to a friend

Learn to read English with confidence

Our online English classes feature lots of useful learning materials and activities to help you develop your reading skills with confidence in a safe and inclusive learning environment.

Practise reading with your classmates in live group classes, get reading support from a personal tutor in one-to-one lessons or practise reading by yourself at your own speed with a self-study course.

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27 Fun Reading Activities To Try At Home or In The Classroom

Written by Ashley Crowe

Teachers and parents

Prodigy English is ready to explore! Get kids playing — and learning — today.

Fun reading activities for the classroom

Reading activities for parents & children, activities to try after reading, other educational activities to help kids learn.

Learning to read is a huge milestone in a child’s life. We all know how important a love of reading is for future learning. When children love to read, they can learn anything. 

Make sure your children keep the joy of reading alive by using fun reading activities along with traditional reading strategies .

These fun daily moments can improve reading skills and help reluctant readers find joy in the written word. We’ll be covering reading activities by grade level both for the classroom and at home, as well as some activities to improve reading comprehension after your students are reading independently. 

Though many children begin the basics of reading at home, most solidify their skills and become accomplished readers in the classroom. These activities keep early readers engaged and improving while helping reluctant readers master the basics. Here are our favorite ways to keep reading fun!

1. Find the secret word

Great for: Kindergarten to 2nd grade

Turn a reading lesson into a scavenger hunt! Give each student or pair of students a piece of text, then speak the first secret word. Once they find it, have them circle it in a specific color, or circle and number, then report back to you for word #2. 

Keep this word search up for as long as you like — we recommend choosing about 8 to 10 words for students to find. It’s one part competition, one part scavenger hunt! Choose a prize for each team to receive when they complete the activity. Or celebrate everyone reaching the end with a classroom dance party! It’s a great way to keep your kids moving and learning.

2. Read aloud as a class

Great for: All grades

Kids are never too old to hear a story read aloud. Reading aloud as a class is a great way to keep kids engrossed in a story. Since you are most familiar with the text, you can keep the flow going during the dramatic moments. Then hand it off to your students to take their turns.

Want to add a new element to your classroom read-aloud? Pass around a ball or stuffed animal to indicate the next reader. It’s a variation of popcorn reading to help minimize reading anxiety, and it gives kids the power to pass it on after spending a short time reading. 

3. Partner reading

Great for: 1st to 3rd grade

Sometimes trying to get the whole class to read together is just too much. To encourage more reading time, pair up your students for partner reading. 

During partner reading, each child will get more time to practice their skills. And being corrected privately by one friend may be better for a struggling reader’s confidence. Try to pair a confident but patient reader with those who need some extra help and watch them both learn to succeed.

4. Find the synonym

Great for: 2nd to 5th grade

Once your readers are feeling more confident, take our scavenger hunt game mentioned above and add a new twist. 

Instead of searching for the exact spoken words on your list, give students the challenge to find the word’s synonym in the text. It’s a great way to keep the game challenging for older students.

5. Word searches

For younger students, a word search is a challenging way to encourage early reading. You can do this much like our scavenger hunt-style games, but instead of saying the words aloud, provide a list. 

They can search for one word at a time, with you providing the next word to the team once the first is found. Or provide a full list from the beginning and let them work individually. Add in some color matching (marking the word in the same color as printed on the list) to keep this game fun and engaging.

6. Keyword bingo

Looking for a calmer alternative to the secret word game? Have each child work individually in a game of reading bingo. Choose a grade-level text and compile a list of words found in the passage. 

Read each word aloud, giving about 15 seconds before moving on to the next. It’s a race against your clock to find the words, or they can try to remember them while looking for the others. When they find the words, they can mark them out. Once the list is done, allow 20 more seconds to wrap up any remaining words, then pencils down and count. Whoever finds the most words, wins!

7. Decoding games

Decoding games focus on letter sounds and phonemic awareness. A favorite game for pre-readers is to say a letter and have students find an object that starts with that letter. As they bring the object back, reinforce the sound that letter makes.

Other decoding games can focus on the mechanics of reading — such as reading a word or sentence from left to right. This is a great time to utilize finger puppets, following along with a finger as you sound the words out together.

8. Thumbs up, thumbs down

Great for: Kindergarten to 5th grade

Thumbs up, thumbs down (or the higher energy variation — stand up, sit down) is a great game to keep your students engaged. 

Check reading comprehension when you ask students to give a thumbs up if a statement about a recently read story is true, or a thumbs down if it’s false. Help them grasp grammar concepts by having them stand up when you say an adjective word or sit down if you say a noun. 

It’s a fun way to keep their bodies and brains working. 

9. Discover the missing letter

When you’re teaching letter sounds, it’s fun to get creative. In this game, you’ll call your students to the front of the class by their names — minus the first letter. For example, Stacy becomes tacy and Roland becomes oland. Let the kids guess who you’re calling up, then have them decode the missing letter. 

You can do the same thing for objects, or drop middle letters for older children. Just be sure to prepare your words ahead of time to avoid any slip-ups!  

10. Guided reading ball game

Great for: 2nd to 7th grade

Grab a few beach balls from your local dollar store and get your classroom moving. Take a sharpie and write a discussion prompt on each colorful section of the ball. What is the setting? Who is the main character? What happened after…? 

Toss or roll the balls around. Students answer whichever question their thumb lands on when the ball heads their way. This is an exciting way to mix things up, practice reading comprehension and get kids thinking outside of their seats.

Not all reading happens in the classroom! Parents can play an active role in helping their children learn to read. Here are a few activities to try with your kids.

1. Reading together

Great for: All grades and ages

There’s something special about listening to a book being read out loud. It can capture your attention in a unique way. Whether your child is a baby or fully grown, it’s always a good time to read together.

Take turns reading chapters from a favorite story, or just read to your child. Enjoying good stories is a huge motivator in learning to read.  

2. Silly voices reading

Great for: Kindergarten to 4th grade

Kids love to laugh and joke, so play into this with a crazy story and silly voices. Get really high-pitched, speed it up like a chipmunk, and then pitch your voice low. 

Your kids will love seeing these stories come to life with your words, and you’ll all share a good laugh. To get them involved in the fun, ask them to do their own silly voice!

3. Dialogic reading

The word dialogic means to have a dialogue, and that’s exactly what this activity is designed to do. Instead of reading to your child while they passively listen, invite them into the story. Ask them what they think may happen next, or at the close of the book invite them to create a completely different ending. This is a great way to stretch your little storyteller’s imagination.

4. Reading outside

Kids thrive outdoors. They can run, climb, and dig in the dirt. Outside is also a great place to practice reading and letter writing. Invite your child to help you create words in a sandbox or take a stick and dig a letter into the dirt. 

Older kids can simply take their reading outside. It’s amazing how refreshing a change of setting can be. 

5. What word starts with…

Great for: Kindergarten to 1st grade

Letter sounds are an essential early reading tool. With this game, ask your child to think of words that start with “B” (or any other letter).

 Give an example, like b-b-butterfly, then think of more “B” words together. Choose your child’s favorite things to keep the game fun and exciting. Early readers especially love to talk about the letters in their names.

6. Try nonfiction

Great for: All ages

You never know what a child may love to read. Though many kids enjoy a good princess or dragon story, others will prefer non-fiction books. 

If your attempts at fiction are met with indifference, try a book about their favorite animal (sharks, dinosaurs, or lemurs are popular here), learn about space or strange weather events. Whatever your child is into, and whatever their reading level, there’s a book for them.

7. Create a “book nook”

A cozy spot dedicated to reading can add joy to the activity. Load up a corner or top bunk space with comfy pillows and blankets, make sure it has good lighting, and include some sticky notes and a dictionary. All your child needs to bring is their favorite book! Even better, snuggle in together and discover a new favorite with your child.

8. Who’s coming over?

This game can be played in a couple of different ways, and both are great for reading comprehension. First, try giving clues so your child can guess their favorite characters. These favorites can be from books or TV. You can mention physical characteristics, some of their best friends, or things that happen to them. Keep giving clues until they guess correctly.

The second way to play is to invite a favorite character over and then discuss what you’ll need for their visit. A special kind of bed, their favorite foods, or a place for their pet to stay are all things to consider. This is a fun way to create your own story around your child’s favorite characters.

9. Take turns reading

As your child begins to read you can invite them to read to you. Don’t push if they don’t want to, but as their confidence builds they’ll be excited to share their new skill with you. 

This may look like you both taking turns reading a new chapter book, or they may want to share all the creature descriptions from their favorite new computer game. No matter the topic, do your best to listen intently and congratulate them on their reading skills.  

10. What happens next?

Keep reading fun and active when you step outside the book and asking your child what happens next:

• What do they think will happen?
• What would you like to see happen? 
• What’s something funny that could happen?

Any question that gets them thinking through the story on their own is both fun and helpful for reading comprehension. 

11. Talk about the pictures

Pictures are a great way for kids to follow along with a story. When your child is beginning to read, have them look at the pictures and ask what they think is going on. As they unravel the story, point out the words they are discovering in the text. Or just let them enjoy creating their own unique version of the story based on the pictures. 

12. Try new reading apps and websites

There are some amazing reading apps for both reading instruction and digital reading libraries. If your child enjoys spending time on their tablet, give some of our favorite reading apps a try and watch them learn while they play.

After your child is reading on their own, there’s still plenty to learn. Reading isn’t effective if they’re struggling to understand the words on the page, or how they all fit together to create the story. Here are a few activities for children to practice reading comprehension.

1. Summarize the text

Once a child is done reading a text or section of a book, have them revisit the main ideas by highlighting or taking notes on the text’s biggest themes. Once students identify the main themes, ask them to break them down further and quickly summarize the story.

2. Book reports

Great for: 2nd to 12th grade

Book reports are a classic reading activity. Have the child analyze the book, highlighting the most important themes. Older children can present arguments pertaining to the story, and provide passages to support their theories. 

Keep book reports even more engaging when you invite kids to give a presentation, complete with dress-up and drama. 

3. Review the book

Ask children to rate their most recent reading. They can assign it a number of stars, but then they must also explain why. Was it too scary? Not funny? What were their favorite parts? What would they do differently?

Not only does this help students think critically about what they’ve just read, but it can also help parents and teacher identify what they might like reading next.

4. Extend the story

Great for: Kindergarten to 12th grade

“And they lived happily ever after…”

Maybe so, but what happened next? Ask your child to keep the story going. Where do they go next? Who do they meet? Favorite characters can continue adventuring when your child takes over the story. This is a great writing prompt , or just a fun dinner conversation!

5. How could it have been better?

Everyone has an opinion, so ask your child for theirs. How could this book or story have been better? Would a different ending be more fun? Or maybe they just think the main character should be named after them. 

No matter their critique, listen and discuss. Then encourage them to create their own tale.

How reading activities help kids embrace learning

Reading keeps kids learning for the rest of their lives. When a child can read, they can take more control over their education. And that’s a wonderful thing!

Fun activities are the best way to keep a child interested in the world of books. Learning to read can be a frustrating journey for some. Others may simply find it boring (especially if they’re being made to read about topics they care little about). These activities are designed to get kids moving and thinking beyond the page. Because when reading is fun, learning happens naturally.

When teaching starts to feel like a drag, or the kids are fighting their instruction, revisit this article. Mix in some fun activities and keep the learning going. Getting up, moving around, or enjoying a laugh together can help stimulate everyone’s mind. 

Looking for even more great learning activities to engage your kids? Here are some of our favorite activity posts for reading, math, and more!

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23 Fun and Easy Guided Reading Activity Ideas

Boost reading skills in small groups.

Guided reading is small-group instruction that supports each reader’s progress with mini-lessons, practice, and feedback. Students read books at their level and engage in activities before and after that help them build core reading skills. Read on to learn how to teach a guided reading lesson, plus see our favorite guided reading activity ideas.

What is included in a guided reading lesson?

You’ll use the same text across multiple guided reading lessons. Depending on the skills you’re teaching and the text, you may plan guided reading lessons that span a few days or a week. The point is to really get into the text and practice reading skills with your feedback and guidance.

Each guided reading lesson is broken into parts:

Mini lesson

A mini lesson that focuses on phonemic awareness, phonics, word reading, fluency, or vocabulary. You can’t hit all of those in one mini lesson, so choose a skill that students will be using in the text they’re reading right after the mini lesson.

Read the book

Students read the decodable book independently. They may whisper-read while you listen, or they may read on their own and read aloud when you ask them to. During this time, you check in with students to make sure they are able to read and understand the text.

Comprehension activities

After students have finished reading, it’s time to talk about what they read. They’ll retell, answer questions, and engage in other comprehension-based activities.

The last part of a guided reading lesson is applying the skills they learned in writing. This could mean practicing writing words from the story, or writing sentences or responses to the story.

Preparing for Guided Reading

Guided reading takes planning—lots of planning. Doing this work on the front end will make guided reading an effective, fun time in your reading block. Here are the three steps you can take to make guided reading work:

Get students into groups

Ashleigh’s Education Journey/guided reading groups via Ashleigh-educationjourney.com

Use data from your school’s universal screening and other assessments to identify which students are working on the same thing for guided reading groups. Maybe you have a group of students who are working on long vowel patterns, while another group is working on reading multi-syllabic words. The text they read will give them a chance to practice what they’re learning, so it’s important to have the right groups.

Choose an appropriate text

Text selection is key during guided reading. Students should be working in text that they can just reach with support since they’re spending their reading time being closely monitored. Look for decodable texts, or texts that have words that students have learned. So, a short-“a” decodable reader would have words that only have the short “a” sound—it won’t include long “a” words or other vowels.

As students get older, finding books that they’re interested in reading continues to be important, but you’ll look for books that have features you want to teach, like text features or text structure.

Set the schedule

Ashleigh’s Education Journey/guided reading schedule

Set a schedule that ensures that each student gets what they need—students who are able to read and work more independently may need a different schedule than students who struggle to work on their own and need additional help with reading. A weekly schedule lets you make sure you’re hitting all the right skills and practice.

A guided reading schedule may also include intervention or Tier 2 groups. Read more about reading intervention .

Mini-Lesson Activities

Each guided reading lesson will start with a mini-lesson. You don’t have a lot of time, so focus on one aspect of reading that students are going to apply in the book that day.

Build and Write Words

Ashleigh’s Education Journey/guided reading activity via Ashleigh-educationjourney.com

Give students practice forming words with letter tiles or cut-out letter squares. Students choose the letters they need to sound out words that they’ll read in the book. Then, with the model they’ve created, they can write the word in the next column.

Pop and Write

Mrs. Winter’s Bliss/word mapping activity via mrswintersbliss.com

In this guided reading activity, have students use a Pop-It to break a word into sounds. Then, students use a whiteboard marker to write the word. (Could you include more fun things in one activity?!) Combining the Pop-It for phonemic awareness and writing to practice encoding letter sounds is a great way to reinforce two skills at once.

CVC Word Reading

Miss Kindergarten/CVC word reading via misskindergarten.com

Use cards like these from Miss Kindergarten to practice pointing to and blending each sound in a word. Choose words that will be in the book students are reading and point out when they use the same strategy they use during the practice in their actual book reading.

Pre-Teach Vocabulary

The Science Penguin/vocabulary concept building via thesciencepenguin.com

Help students start to organize and remember new vocabulary by having them work with words. In this example from The Science Penguin , students sort new words according to parts of speech to help commit them to memory.

Sight Word Sticker Book

First Grader … at Last/sight word sticker book via Firstgraderatlast.blogspot.com

As students master sight words, have them put stickers by each word. Then, as a warm-up in guided reading, they can review the words they know and practice words they don’t. Set a day as sticker day, when they can prove that they’ve mastered a new word and add more stickers to their book.

Learn more: First Grader … at Last

Fluency Strips

Mrs. Richardson’s Class/fluency Strips via mrsrichardsonsclass.com

In this guided reading activity, have students practice reading fluency with short, manageable strips of a phrase or a sentence or two. You can also print out sentences or short paragraphs from books they’re reading so you can build repeated reading practice into guided reading.

Learn more: Mrs. Richardson’s Class

Read more: Fluency Activities

Word Family Fluency

Miss Kindergarten/word family fluency via misskindergarten.com

Another way to work in some quick fluency practice is with word family sentence strips. Give students the strips for the word family they are working on and have them practice reading through the strips. If you organize them by color like Miss Kindergarten , you can also have a rainbow-sentence option with sentences from all the different word families.

Mrs. Richardson’s Class/phonics practice example via mrsrichardsonsclass.com

Practice making words that have the same spelling pattern—for example, writing all the words that end in -igh. Choose spelling patterns students will see in the book you’re going to read so students can get maximum practice with the spelling patterns.

Read more: Phonics Activities

Preview the Text

Previewing the text, or looking at the main features, is a habit that you’ll want students to have as they read on their own. Use time during guided reading to preview each text before you read it.

Here’s how to preview a text with students:

During reading activities

Teaching With Jennifer Findley/guided reading data tracker via jenniferfindley.com

During guided reading, the most important activity is reading. The teacher’s role is to listen as students read and then give them feedback on their reading. Correct a word here. Prompt them to use a strategy there.

Take notes on how students are reading each session so you have the data to track their progress.

Get it: Free printable guided reading note taker from Jennifer Findley

After reading activities

After students have read the text, it’s time to talk comprehension. They can practice retelling, answering questions, and discussing text with their small group. Their responses will show you how they’re doing in terms of understanding questions and pulling information out of the text.

Retelling Gloves

Buzzing With Ms. B/retelling gloves via buzzingwithmsb.com

Create a retelling glove and have students refer to each of the five fingers for each part of the story they should include in a retelling. This helps students who get lost in telling you all the details. You can have them put each finger down as they tell you that part of the story.

Learn more: Buzzing With Ms. B

Comprehension Fans

Runde’s Room/Comprehension Fans via rundesroom.com

Organize questions onto strips or cards, and put a collection of these questions on a ring to create a “fan” for this guided reading activity. Then have students select a question from the fan to ask a group, or write a response.

Learn more: Runde’s Room

Check out this list of printable questions for book discussions .

Fill In the Graphic Organizer

Courtney Schermerhorn/graphic organizer via teacherspayteachers.com

A graphic organizer is a great way to help students organize information they pull from a text. As students learn how to complete graphic organizers and use text structure to understand text, provide graphic organizers with some parts filled in to model a correct response (read: full sentences) and give students a scaffold to complete the entire organizer.

Buy it: Graphic organizer at Teachers Pay Teachers

Reading Dice

A Love 4 Teaching/reading dice via alove4teaching.blogspot.com

Write open-ended literature response questions on dice. Then, students roll the dice and answer the question that lands on top.

Learn more: A Love 4 Teaching

Comprehension Jenga

Counselor Clique/Questions on a Jenga game via counselorclique.com

Counselor Clique wrote questions for post-career goals in this example, but for guided reading, write questions on Jenga blocks that apply to your students’ age and reading goals. Then, play a game of Jenga—students pull a block from the stacked tower and answer the question they get.

Summarize Together

This Reading Mama/Summarizing Activity via thisreadingmama.com

Students practice summarizing using signal words by using sticky notes and papers that have the key features of a summary: who, what, when, where, why. After students write their signal words, they create a group summary by sticking them onto the paper. Over time, students can do this activity on their own or in a small group without direct supervision.

Read more: This Reading Mama

Bloom Balls

Coffee Cups & Lesson Plans/Bloom Ball activity via coffeecupslessonplans.com

Have older students create a Bloom Ball, a 12-sided ball with space to write on each side. Students write questions they can ask about any text, or projects they can do with any text, on each side. Then, they roll the ball to see which question they answer or which project they do.

Learn more at Coffee Cups & Lesson Plans .

Buy it: Bloom Ball template at Teachers Pay Teachers

Prediction Practice

Raise the Bar Reading/making predictions activity via teacherspayteachers.com

Making predictions using information from the text is an important skill students use to maintain comprehension. Use a template, like this one from Raise the Bar Reading , to help students identify the information from the text, then use that information to make predictions.

Buy it: Making Predictions printable at Teachers Pay Teachers

Student-Led Groups

The Mountain Teacher/student-led reading groups via themountainteacher.com

As students get older and learn how to discuss text on their own, put them into groups to discuss. Having roles in the group can help some students stay on task, and ensures that everyone has something to be accountable for.

Learn more: The Mountain Teacher

Guided Writing

The last part of guided reading is writing! This is when students are able to consolidate everything they learned, put it into their own words, and maybe add some more ideas.

Letter Writing

Whimsy Workshop Teaching/letter-writing examples via whimsyworkshopteaching.com

Letter writing is a great way to have students retell and engage with text. You can have students write a letter to a character (like the example from Whimsy Workshop Teaching ). Or have students put themselves in the mind of one character and write a letter to another character in the book from that point of view. This activity is good for after students read an especially dramatic part in the story and one character has a secret or new information they can’t wait to share.

Newspaper Article

Kirsten’s Kaboodle/newspaper template via kirstenskaboodle.com

Newspaper writing is retelling for older students. This activity has students retell what happened in the day’s or week’s reading in a newspaper article format. Use a graphic organizer to make sure that students include all the relevant sections.

Buy it: Kirsten’s Kaboodle newspaper template

Pitch a Sequel

In this guided reading activity, have students write an idea for a sequel to the book or story they just read. Where would they take the characters next? What conflict would these characters get into next?

Comic Strip Retell

Mrs. RM/comic strip retelling via Pinterest

Another way to retell for older students: Use a comic strip format to show the beginning, middle, and end of a story or scene. For longer texts, you could have students build out a comic strip across multiple guided reading lessons, or have students work collaboratively to turn the entire story into a comic.

Graph Character Arc

This one will really engage students’ creativity. Students choose a type of graph (pie graph, chart, etc.) and track the character’s emotions or level of conflict in a scene or book. Label the graph with information from the story.

What are your favorite guided reading activity ideas? Share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group  on Facebook.

Check it out: 49 anchor charts all about reading comprehension ..

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7 Reading Activities to Engage Upper Elementary Students

October 28, 2022 | eSpark Contributor

Student Activities | Best Practices , Reading

One of the biggest challenges that teachers face is keeping kids engaged . Older learners – even older elementary school learners – are hard to excite. A lesson plan you hoped would last a whole hour might be completed in a few minutes Your kids can grow bored and distracted easily, making it harder for you to manage the classroom. 

You need foolproof lesson plans to keep your students engaged. Here are a variety of reading activities to build into your classroom and modify based on what your students want. Use these options to jazz up your reading class and help kids connect better with the material. 

1. Create Story Trains

As students reach the older elementary years, they should be able to pick up on the elements of a story. They should also be able to identify foreshadowing and pick out plot twists, climaxes, and resolutions. Use this story train activity as a written game of telephone. One student starts the train by writing a few sentences of a story. The next student adds a conflict. The next one adds a plot twist or supporting information and the train keeps going until the final student concludes with a resolution. 

You can make this a single-lesson project where students build stories in groups or you can create a month-long writing challenge ( NaNoWriMo anyone?) where each student gets a different story to build on each night. Students have to read each other’s stories and receive a completed tale by the end of the month. 

2. Use Visual Organizers for Persuasive Writing

Older learners might start to engage with persuasive reading and writing within the curriculum. They might read a speech and highlight the elements that make it persuasive. Consider adopting a visual organizational format to help students identify opinions and separate the supporting arguments, conclusion, and call to action. 

Check out the chart by 2 Kinder and Beyond as an example. This layout can help students draft persuasive essays, but it can also help them dissect information they encounter on social media. How is a fun video on TikTok also trying to persuade kids toward a cause? How is a post on Instagram making an argument for or against something? Persuasion is everywhere around us and visual charts can help kids identify it.  

3. Tap Into Riddles, Limericks, and Other Word Games

Reading activities can help you track whether students are completing their assignments without asking them to keep an outdated reading journal . Rather than asking kids to reflect on their feelings or write summaries on assigned content each night, challenge them to create fun riddles or poems based on the information. You can read the top riddles to the class or let your students share their creations with their peers. 

Other fun assignments to check for reading completion include acrostic poems, comic strips, and wanted posters, which students can create to show they are actively reading each night.

4. Ask Students to Write Alternate Endings 

As your upper elementary students read more books, they will start to realize how heartbreaking stories can be. Not every tale has a happy ending and authors might draft a plot that frustrates readers. If you know that your class is about to read a particularly sad book (like Where the Red Fern Grows) consider allowing them to write alternate endings after they complete the story. You can also give out this assignment to books with happy endings and challenge students to write a scarier version – potentially as a Halloween assignment – or a setup for a sequel. 

This activity can turn students into authors and help them realize how hard it is to draft a story without loose ends which also makes the audience happy. 

5. Play Reading Comprehension Jenga

If you have ever grouped your students together to discuss a book, you might find that one of two things happens: your students either provide one-word answers to the questions you provide or they get distracted and talk about something completely unrelated to the class. 

Jenga can help students stay focused on a discussion and increase the energy in the room. Each piece has a question about the characters, plot, setting, or other elements of the story. Your students will pull out a piece, read the question, and answer it. The goal is to build a high tower without anything tipping over. 

Depending on your current resources, you can play this as a class or in smaller groups. You can also create Reading Comprehension Connect Four, War, and other games that students can play together. 

6. Create Social Media Journals

Another way to make sure students are reading each night or keeping up with their assignments is with social media journals. Students can create mock Facebook or Instagram posts pretending to be the characters they are reading. The students can share plot updates while pretending to be the characters or reflect on their motives and future actions. By the end of each book, students should have a story told through a series of social media posts. 

Check out the book Twitterature as an example. Hamlet, Harry Potter, and various other books are told through a series of 20 tweets per book. This is a way to highlight key plot points and reflect on the story without asking students to write out several journal entries. 

7. Don’t Forget Read Alouds

Older students don’t get storytime as often as younger learners. They usually have to read on their own as part of their homework assignments. However, hearing words spoken aloud can help students get an idea of the tone of the story. They can help students move beyond sounding out words so they can dive deeper into the plot. Plus, some authors write with the goal of hearing their words spoken – especially poets and playwrights. 

Read-alouds are a good way to end the day. They can keep students focused during the final minutes before they go home and they can also serve as a tease to excite students about the story. If you can hook your kids with a read-aloud in the last 10 minutes of the day, then they are more likely to keep reading on the bus ride home or once they finish with their after-school activities. 

Use Upper Elementary Reading Activities to Make Literature Fun

Older students have to read more advanced books and you may find that some students stop reading for fun. Your students are going to start engaging with more literature – especially as they leave for middle school. These reading activities can keep students engaged in the stories and the materials you need to teach. Reading can be less overwhelming or boring and more fun. 

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Reading Comprehension Exercises - Elementary

• Page One - this page.

Tom's Day Read about Tom's daily routine.

Multiple Choice Exercise Multiple choice questions about the "Tom's Day" reading. Exercise Number: 1R1

True or False Questions True or false exercise about the "Tom's Day" reading. Exercise Number: 1R17

My Working Day Read about an British woman's working day.

True or False Questions True/False questions about the "My Working Day" reading. Exercise Number: 1R2

Answer Completion Complete the answers about the "My Working Day" reading. Exercise Number: 1R13

Question & Answer Match Match the questions and answers about the "My Working Day" reading. Exercise Number: 1R16

Hotel Dialogue Re-Ordering Read this mixed-up hotel dialogue. Then, in the boxes provided, put the dialogue back into the correct order. Exercise Number: 1R3

Letter Sentence Insertion Read this letter that Kate writes to her friend. Put the correct sentences into the spaces. Exercise Number: 1R4

The 1990s Read about what somebody did during the 90s.

Making Questions Question formation exercise about the "1990s" reading. Exercise Number: 1R5

My Name Is Ben Read about Ben and his girlfriend.

True or False Exercise Some true/false questions about the "My Name Is Ben" reading. Exercise Number: 1R6

Answer Completion Complete the answers about the "My Name Is Ben" reading. Exercise Number: 1R10

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Tomas From Vienna Read about Tomas who comes from Vienna.

True or False Questions Some true/false questions about the "Tomas From Vienna" reading. Exercise Number: 1R7

Tim's Day Tim's daily routine.

Short Questions Yes/No questions about the "Tim's Day" reading. Exercise Number: 1R8

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• Children's stories
• Leveled Stories

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• Compare & contrast
• Fact vs. fiction
• Fact vs. opinion
• Main idea & details

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• Reading comprehension
• Early writing
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• Dolch sight words
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• Cursive sentences
• Cursive passages
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Reading Comprehension

Free reading comprehension worksheets.

Use these printable worksheets to improve reading comprehension. Over 100  free children's stories  followed by comprehension exercises, as well as  worksheets focused on specific comprehension topics  (main idea, sequencing, etc).

Reading worksheets by grade:

Reading worksheets by topic:.

Children's stories

Compare and contrast

Main idea & supporting details

Conclusions and inferences

Fact vs fiction

Fact vs opinion

Figurative language

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Reading - elementary

Reading - intermediate

Comprehension activities

• The Rabbit and the Turtle
• The Frog and the Ox
• The Mice in Council
• The Rooster and the Fox
• The Wind and the Sun
• The Trees and the Ax
• The Lion and the Mouse
• The Cat, The Rooster, and the Young Mouse
• The Dog and the Manger
• The Fox and the Crow
• The Fox and the Grapes
• The Donkey in the Lion's Skin
• The Dog and His Reflection

      intermediate level ->