Sample Reading Comprehension Exercises for Early Grades Part 1,varied techniques/formats, dev strong foundation reading skills

 

Sample Early Grades Comprehension 

Exercises, developing strong reading 

comprehension skills in kids, 👩👩

👦👧👱👸👯👫

varied techniques/formats/activities,

practical  tips

I have been very much worried about

reports of declining reading skills most

especially in comprehension among 

students for sometime now. Having 

been an early grades teacher for 

years in the past, I know how 

important comprehension of what 

one reads can be. It is like piling 

hollow blocks( cinder blocks) 

to make a concrete fence.

You start with a strong foundation, and 

slowly go up piling blocks(skills)

to make a strong fence. It is the 

same with reading skills, you start

with strong phonics/letter sounds

to enable to read, then understanding

what you are reading which is

comprehension. It is very basic 

and the foundation so to speak 

for all other academic skills.

It has been said that from ages 0-8, a

child's brain is like cotton/sponge - it absorbs

all learnings so well. Haven't you 

observe that with your own kids 

at home? And did we not delight when

kids learn? Why not continue the 

momentum?

References:adam-mila.com, edutopia.org,

webmd.com

Here are some benefits of developing 

comprehension skills in the early grades:

📌 help children build vocabulary/absorb

new words 

    *able to define new words  based

on the context of the material they are 

reading. This is very important because

very often we hear people say "You

are out of context". Even older people

get to be told this. So why not train

them young.

📌 learn about the world they live in

📌 gain a better understanding of the 

material they are reading

📌 understand complex concepts

📌 encourages kids to think critically

📌 make connections between different 

texts or stories (e.g.fables, poems, etc.)

📌 evaluate what they are reading

📌 draw conclusions, ask questions

📌 can help improve writing skills by 

learning sentence structure in the 

stories read

According to Google(from sources

across the web), children who 

develop strong reading comprehension

skills are more likely to succeed in

school and life.👦👧👨👩👸👱 

So comforting! Let this be our 

motivation then, for students to understand 

better what they are reading. 

Here is a list of basic reading 

comprehension skills to develop, 

with sample exercises below in varied 

techniques/ formats/activities you 

can use:

Basic Reading Comprehension Skills

1. Note important details pertaining

    to character, setting, events

2. Give the correct sequence of events

3. Infer the character's feelings and traits

4. Identify cause and effect of events

5. Identify the speaker in the story

or poem

6. Predict possible ending of a story read/

    Drawing Conclusions

7. Relate story events to one's experience

8. Discuss, illustrate, dramatize specific

events

9. Identify the problem and solution

10.Retell a story listened to

11.Ask simple questions about the text

listened to/ or read

Sample Reading Comprehension

Exercises for Early Graders, 

varied techniques/ format/activities:

1. Noting important details

A. Hi! My name is Luna.

    Pluto is my pet.    

     He is a dog.

    He likes to run in the yard.

    He likes to eat bones.

    1. Pluto is ________.

        a) my friend

        b) my pet

        c) my sister

    2. My name is _____.

        a) Luna

        b) Helen

        c) Yasmin

    3. Pluto is _______

        a) a mouse

        b) a cat

        c) a dog

B.             

                 The Mango Tree

    Here is a beautiful Mango Tree.

    This tree is very tall. It is full

    of yellow mangoes. There are 

    8 mangoes on the tree. 

    The leaves of the tree are green.

    Q1. It is a beautiful____tree.

    Ans. ________

    Q2. This ____ is very tall.

    Ans. ________

    Q3. The color of the mangoes is _____.

    Ans. ________

    Q4. There are ____ mangoes on the tree.

    Ans. ________

    Q5. The leaves of the tree are _____.

    Ans. ________

C.  

   

                

                           Mr. Frog

    I see a frog in the pond. The frog is

    green. Watch out! The frog likes to

    jump. It jumped in the pond. You

    can see it swim.

    1. I see a frog in the ______.

        pond        water        lake

    2. The frog is _____.

        red        blue        green

    3. The frog likes to _____.

        jump         run        hide

D.         

            Happy Linda

    Linda is happy. Linda

    wants to go to the park.

    She wants to see flowers.

    How happy Linda is!

    1. Why is Linda happy?

        a) She wants to go to the zoo.

        b) She wants to go to the park.

        c) She wants to go to school.

    2. Linda wants to see _______.

    3. Do you like to go to the park?

        _______________________

    4. What do you see in the park?

        _______________________

2. Give the correct sequence of events

A.          Walking my Dog

Read the sentences below. Cut and paste 

them in the correct order.

    We walk to the park.

    I call my dog over.

    I lead him out the door.

    After our walk, I take off his leash.

    We walk down the road.

     I put the leash on my dog.

Paste the sentences here in correct order.

    1.___________________

    2.___________________

    3.___________________

    4.___________________

    5.___________________

    6.___________________

B.        At the Grocery Store

Read the sentences below. Cut and paste

them in the correct order of events.

    Place the food in your cart.

    Pay for the items at the cashier counter.

    Walk into the grocery.

    Walk out of the grocery.

    Pick the food you want.

    Bring the bag of items you bought.

Paste the sentences here in correct order.

    1.____________________

    2.____________________

    3.____________________

    4.____________________

    5.____________________

    6.____________________

C.            A Day in the Park

I love going to the park with my friends.

We always play on the swings when we 

get there. Also, my friends and I climb

on the ropes. We get excited when the 

ice cream man comes. We have to get

in line to get some. After we finish our

ice cream, we usually play tag(dakop2).

I love to run around and catch my 

friends. They run very fast! Another

game we play is Hide and Seek(tago2)

After I count to ten, I have to find

all of my friends. I look for my

friends under the slide and behind

the trees. It is easy to find them all.

After the game, we all go home. It

had been a fun day for all of us!

Number the sentences in order from 1-6

according to the paragraph.

_____🏃We play tag(dakop2).

_____🏃I look for my friends 

behind the trees.

_____🏃My friends and I play

on the swings.

_____🏃The ice cream man comes.

_____🏃We all go home.

_____🏃I climb on the rope.

3. Infer the character's feelings and traits

A. Read each description of the character

and check the smiley face to show

how the character feels.

1. Karen had a hard time with math.

She had a big test coming. She 

studied every day right after 

school with her best friend Sam.

Karen studied hard and got a high

score on the test.

😀        😞        😬

2. Sam was always good at math,

but she wanted to help her friend,

so she studied with her everyday

after school. They both worked hard

studying...but Sam got a low score.

😀        😔        😠

B. Read the story and circle the 

character's feelings.

   

     1. Sally got a new puppy for her

birthday. She woke up the next morning

to find out her puppy was gone.

How was Sally feeling?

a) excited         b) happy         c) sad

   

     2. John spent a lot of time playing

after school. He went home late and

passed by a very dark part of the road.

He heard someone shout.

How was John feeling?

a) angry         b) afraid         c) happy

  

      3. Karen went to cheer for her grade

level volleyball team in the Intramurals.

Her team had the highest score.

How was Karen feeling?

a) proud        b) angry        c) ashamed

   

     4. Tim ran fast because he was late

for school. He bumped into a little

boy who fell down.

How was Tim feeling?

a) sorry        b) bored        c) cheerful

C. Match each sentence to the character

trait it represents. Choose from the list.

A. creative    B. excited        C. loving

D. sad            E. thrifty            F. mad

G. bored        H. spiritual

_____1. Mother promised Ben a gift on 

            his birthday.

_____2. Mark's pet cat Wink died.

_____3. A naughty classmate broke 

                Carl's pencil before the test begun.

_____4. After all the chores are done, Nona

                is left with nothing to do.

_____5. Santos Family goes to church

                every Sunday.

_____6. Fe makes beautiful flowers made

                of empty plastic bottles.

_____7. Mother cooks all the family

                meals everyday.

_____8. Martha saves part of her

                school allowance and only 

                spends money for snacks.

4. Identifying Cause and Effect of events

 A.  Draw a line to match each cause with

its effect.

          Cause                        Effect

1. I push down on        *The students

the stapler.*                     listened.

2.The teacher                *He made the

started to talk.*               winning shot of

                                        the game.

3. The chef cut               *The papers are

the vegetables.*                stapled together.

4. He practiced               *The customer

basketball every               ate the fresh 

 day.*                                   salad.

5. Ants always                *They always

gather food.*                      have food to

                                           eat.

B. Identify which part of the sentence is

the cause and which part is the effect.

Copy each part on the blank.

1. Liza dropped her ice cream and then

she started to cry.

Cause_________________________

Effect_________________________

2. The dog couldn't come inside because

he rolled in the mud.

Cause_________________________

Effect_________________________

3. Dad's gasoline tank in his car was empty

so he went to the gasoline station.

Cause_________________________

Effect_________________________

4. The cat hissed when Baby Kate pulled its

tail.

Cause_________________________

Effect_________________________

Note: To identify the cause and effect, 

identify which happened first-that is the

cause, the other one is called the effect.

C. Cause and Effect Coloring Activity

Color the cause in each sentence blue

and the effect in each sentence red.

Hint: The cause happens first, the effect

is the result of the cause.

1. It was cold outside so I put on mittens.

2. The tree is broken because of the storm.

3. The runner slipped and fell on the ground.

4. The dog barked at me because he was

hungry.

5. If you listen in class, you will get

smarter.

6. The pencil broke because I pressed

too hard.

7. That shirt is too small for me because

I grew.

8. If I have too much money, then I 

will go shopping.

9. The plant died because Rene forgot

to water it.

10. Father slept early because he was 

tired.

Credits: Google, Pinterest

The rest of the skills in the list will be

in Part 2 in another post.

Many thanks, guys.

Hope this helps.💗

Will appreciate your comment, like, 

follow or share. Any suggestion for 

forthcoming posts content or topic? 

What do you like me to feature? 

Many thanks.

/EAB💗

 

               

    

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