At its most basic level, reading comprehension is about being able to analyze a text for surface meaning. There are a variety of classroom activities that can help with this skill. Choose a short article or essay for students to read. Have students summarize the piece by writing one sentence that encapsulates the main point of each paragraph. Alternatively, ask students to identify what they think the article's main point is and to write a short paragraph about it. Or, have students choose one paragraph in the piece and rewrite it in their own words.
Sometimes a lack of comprehension stems from a student's inability to understand individual words. Help students overcome this problem by targeting problem words in a piece that you assign. Have each student go through the piece and write down all the words she does not understand. Give a dictionary to each student and have her look up the definition of these words and copy them down. Students can keep a running personal dictionary throughout the year. Alternatively, have students choose one or two sentences and come up with two or three synonyms for all the nouns and verbs in the sentences.
Asking students to be creative can help spur reading comprehension. Have students read a short story and write a sequel. Ask them to think about what will happen next for the characters. You can also have students rewrite the story in a different setting, such as a Medieval setting, one with superheroes or a Harry Potter setting. A quicker creative activity is to ask students to give the story a new title and to write a short paragraph about why the new title is appropriate.
For classes with high energy, you can teach students reading comprehension by getting them to perform in front of their peers. Break the class into groups of four or five and have students script and act out a performance of a story the class has read. As with the creative writing activity, you can ask students to give the story a new setting or a modern twist. Another useful drama activity is to have one student interview a character from the story, played by another student. Conduct the interview at the front of the room and allow other students to ask questions.