Mastering reading comprehension is important for 8th graders as they leave middle school and prepare to enter high school, where they will need to be able to understand information in textbooks and literature, as well as pass standardized tests. You can practice reading comprehension in the classroom or at home by using a few activities specifically tailored to their grade level.
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Have the student read political advertisements, like the ones featured on TV411. Ask them to label each persuasive point the politician is trying to make and categorize it either as a generalization, a scare tactic or an exaggeration. For commercial advertisements, ask them to read through the whole ad and the fine print. Write a list of details that may or may not be in the ad and have them write "no" or "yes" next to those details depending on if they were or weren't in the ad.
Drawing Conclusions
Have the student practice drawing conclusions or reading between the lines using Studyzone's activity on its website. The student will read a short story containing pertinent details. Studyzone then has the student fill out a multiple-choice quiz asking the student questions about where the character in the story probably lives, what kind of activities the character might enjoy, and so on.
Charting the Story Arc
Use the TeacherVision Five Elements of a Story activity to identify the introduction, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution portions of a story. Give the student a short story to read through a couple times. Then ask him to briefly synopsize each portion of the story in a few words that corresponds to one of the elements, and write it on the TeacherVision graphic next to that element.
Newspaper Article Memory
Give the student a newspaper article. Allow her to read it through two or three times. Then ask the student to answer a series of questions in essay form, including as much detail from the article as possible. Repeat this a few times with different articles and discuss the responses with the student.
