Nonfiction reading shouldn’t feel like a chore. If your students think it’s just about reading a passage and answering a few dry comprehension questions, it’s time to flip the script!
Now more than ever, students need to engage with informational texts in a way that feels fun, interactive, and meaningful. The good news? There are SO many cool ways to bring nonfiction to life in your classroom! Whether it’s hands-on activities, digital tools, or creative challenges, nonfiction reading can be just as exciting as their favorite fiction books.
This isn’t your mama’s classroom anymore! With the right mix of print and digital resources, you can transform nonfiction into something students actually want to read. Ready to shake things up? Let’s dive into some game-changing ways to make nonfiction reading make nonfiction engaging and interactive!
1. Puzzles and Ciphers
Let’s talk about a secret weapon for making nonfiction reading engaging, interactive, and totally unforgettable—puzzles!
Why should you use puzzles in the classroom? Because they’re not just fun—they’re powerful learning tools. Puzzles and ciphers grab students’ attention while boosting critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Instead of passively reading, students actively think, decode, and connect ideas—and that’s where the real learning happens.
Even better? Puzzles get students into metacognition mode (a fancy way of saying they start thinking about their own thinking). As they work through challenges, they begin to recognize patterns, adjust their strategies, and build the kind of perseverance that makes them stronger readers and problem-solvers.
When students tackle puzzles and ciphers, they’re not just reading—they’re thinking about how they read and comprehend nonfiction in a whole new way. They start to analyze, decode, and piece together information like real detectives. And let’s be honest—who wouldn’t rather solve a mystery than just answer another worksheet question?
Cryptograms, simply put, are encrypted text or secret code! Engage your students with cryptograms by making a paper or virtual cipher wheel or a St. Cyr slide. Learn more about how to use these cryptograms in your classroom!
From social studies and science to language arts, you can bring this strategy into any subject.
Morse Code
Not only is learning morse code a critical thinking activity for your students, it also has a huge historical context when it comes to engaging with nonfiction text.
Samuel Morse created this system of dots and dashes to send messages across the world via telegraph—especially during wartime. So why not integrate this fascinating historical tool into your classroom code-breaking fun?
Want to take it up a notch? Have students create their own puzzles and ciphers using a quick morse code translator.
Whether they’re sending secret messages, cracking codes, or connecting history with problem-solving, this activity will get them engaged, thinking, and learning in a way they won’t forget! Who knew dots and dashes could make nonfiction reading this exciting?
Even More Secret Codes
One of my favorite websites to create ciphers and codes is Rumkin. Use this site to create everything from an Affine Code to Vigenere Autokey. Not familiar? Don’t worry. Simply type in your message to any of the code generators, and “BOOM!”, you have the secret code. Give your students a key or a way to solve the puzzle. You can even share the type of code and how it’s generated! Differentiate for your gifted learners and early finishes by having them create their own secret coded language. You could even use it to create your own puzzles with your students!
Escape Rooms
So, you’ve got all these puzzles and ciphers—now what? Time to bring it all together with high-interest nonfiction readings and turn your classroom into an epic escape room experience!
If you’ve ever tried an escape room in real life, you know the thrill—solving puzzles, unlocking clues, and racing against the clock to “break out.” Now, imagine that same excitement in your classroom! Educational escape rooms take the same concept and apply it to learning, whether it’s with physical breakout boxes, a printable escape room or digital escape rooms that work on any device. Similar education concepts have become popular with breakout boxes.
The best part? Escape rooms work for every learner—whether they’re in the classroom or learning online. They encourage teamwork, critical thinking, and problem-solving, all while making nonfiction reading engaging, interactive, and just plain FUN. So, why stick to traditional comprehension questions when your students can crack codes, solve mysteries, and escape into learning?
Why Use Escape Rooms?
Escape rooms are one of the most engaging ways to integrate nonfiction into social studies and science curriculum! For example, when teaching about the US Constitution, you could certainly read the textbook verbatim and do all the usual comprehension questions. But, how do you know if your students are really internalizing the information? There are so many topics you can tackle with nonfiction escape rooms!
Escape rooms have so many benefits for students in upper elementary and middle school classrooms!
1️⃣ Boosts Engagement – Students are actively involved in solving puzzles, making learning feel like an adventure rather than a task.
2️⃣ Encourages Critical Thinking – Escape rooms require problem-solving, logic, and reasoning, helping students strengthen higher-order thinking skills.
3️⃣ Promotes Collaboration – Students work together to crack codes and find solutions, building teamwork and communication skills.
4️⃣ Reinforces Content Knowledge – Whether it’s history, science, math, or reading comprehension, escape rooms make learning interactive and memorable.
5️⃣ Fosters a Growth Mindset – Students learn that mistakes are part of the process and that perseverance leads to success.
6️⃣ Creates a Fun & Positive Learning Environment – A classroom that feels exciting is one where students want to show up and participate!
7️⃣ Works for Any Learning Style – Whether your students are visual, auditory, or hands-on learners, an escape room meets them where they are and makes learning accessible for all.
Learn more about how and why you should use escape rooms in your classroom to make nonfiction engaging and interactive!
2. Scavenger Hunts
When you think about nonfiction reading activities, movement probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But guess what? Getting students up and moving has many benefits! ! Movement isn’t just great for their bodies—it helps boost focus, improve retention, and even supports their social-emotional well-being. When kids are engaged both mentally and physically, the learning sticks!
One of my favorite ways to get students moving while tackling nonfiction? Paragraph scavenger hunts! Instead of just sitting at their desks reading, students are up, searching for key information, piecing together details, and making connections—all while having fun. It’s an easy way to transform traditional reading lessons into an interactive experience that keeps them engaged from start to finish!
When you think of nonfiction reading activities, you may not think of movement. However, getting students up and moving has many benefits! Movement promotes social-emotional well-being and keeps the body engaged and moving. This helps students remember and internalize what they are learning! One way to get your students moving is with paragraph scavenger hunts.
Here’s How Paragraph Scavenger Hunts Work!
- Start with a nonfiction passage.
- Break up the paragraphs and hang them around the room.
- Create 10 questions for students to answer using the paragraphs.
- Students won’t know which paragraph to visit so they will read and skim for answers in each paragraph numerous times.
This activity makes nonfiction engaging and interactive for your students by getting them moving and requiring multiple reads of a text! Students will revisit the non-fiction text multiple times practicing reading comprehension skills as they rotate around the room seeking text evidence. Use this for a formative assessment or allow students to work together as a team-building activity.
This Industrial Revolution Scavenger Hunt lesson is an engaging cross-curricular gallery walk activity that incorporates reading comprehension, informational text, citing text evidence, movement and critical thinking skills. It also includes an escape room aspect of a final mystery word and secret 4-digit code, leaving your students eager to finish the task.
3. Task Card Review Games
Reviewing for a test shouldn’t feel like a snooze-fest. If you want your students to actually remember what they’ve learned (and not just cram and forget), it’s time to shake things up with review games!
Games turn test prep into an interactive experience where students are actively thinking, applying, and making connections—not just memorizing facts.
And the best part? When learning feels fun, it sticks! Not only will their test scores improve, but they’ll retain that knowledge long after the assessment is over. So ditch the drill-and-kill and bring in the games—your students (and their brains) will thank you!
Task cards can be made into an escape room too! Give students a chance to practice reading comprehension skills and decode puzzles, all while actively learning! With their reading passage in hand, students will move around the classroom and visit 16 task cards. The task cards are broken down into 4 levels or puzzle types.
How Do Task Card Review Games Work?
Start with 10-20 questions about a reading passage you share with your students. Instead of just answering the questions and finding out which answers are correct (or incorrect), task card review games become a competition. We know that a competitive spirit means engagement in and interaction!
First, students go around the room looking for task cards. Hang them high, low, and at eye-level to get your students moving! Check each answer in a box on the recording sheet.
At the end, the students will add up all the ABCD answers to get a 4-digit number and check to see if their answers are correct.
Race to the finish with task card review games for science and social studies!
Ways to Use Task Card Review Games
Here are some other ways to use task cards in your classroom!
- Get Students Moving!
- Small Group Rotation
- White Board Activities
- Scoot! Game
- Reteaching, Reinforcement of Skills
- Remediation After Assessments
- Anticipatory Sets
- Enrichment Activities
- Exit Slips
- Board Game Activities
4. Color by Number and Text Marking
Think Color by Number is just for little kids? Think again! Even upper elementary and middle school students can level up their learning with this fun, interactive strategy.
Text marking with Color by Number turns nonfiction reading into a hands-on experience, making it easier (and way more engaging) for students to break down informational text. Instead of just reading the words, they’re actively searching, analyzing, and connecting ideas—all while adding a splash of color! It’s the perfect way to keep students engaged and make nonfiction stick!
Even upper elementary and middle school learners can benefit from text marking resources using color by number! Text marking also includes annotating text. Teach your students common annotation marks, such as * for important facts, circling vocabulary words, ? for things they do not understand, and ! for surprising facts.
Using color by number for middle school students is an engaging and interactive nonfiction tool. There are so many reasons to use color by number in the middle school classroom!
- Engagement
- Relaxation
- Language Arts Skills
- Following Directions
- Homework, Review
- Anxiety Reducing
- Brain Stimulation
How to use Color by Number for Nonfiction Activities
Start with questions and multiple choice answers over a nonfiction passage or textbook reading. Each answer has a color to use on a “piece” of the picture. The color provides a quick check when your students see the final picture.
The markers or colored pencils are not just for coloring in a picture, however. Encourage your students to find textual evidence to support their answer in the nonfiction passage. Text marking is huge for students! They can even apply this to standardized tests that have highlighting tools or simply jotting down reasons and reflecting on reasons for answers before they lock them in.
First, students will read the passage. Using close reading skills, they will read the passage a second time and circle their answers to multiple choice questions. Next, they will color the image based on their answer. They will reread the passage to find evidence in the text and underline it using the same corresponding color.
Option 1: Individual work – Students work on their own to complete the questions, coloring, and underlining.
Option 2: Group work – Split the image to allow students to create a collaborative group poster. Place students in groups of four. Each member of the group will receive a different page to color. In the end, the group will assemble their picture with tape or glue. The group images will result in a colorful pop-art poster.
Most people think that Color by Number activities are only for lower elementary grades, but that is simply not true! When Color by Number is implemented correctly, it can deepen student understanding and aide in thought organization. Color by Number activities are a great change of pace and a unique approach to teaching or reviewing concepts. Coloring stimulates brain activity. Isn’t that the purpose of learning?
This activity can be used for anticipatory sets, unit review, sub plans, extension activities, early-finishers, group work, or independent work.
Check out all the Color By Number and Text Marking activities for your classroom at any level!
5. Nonfiction Secret Messages
Keep nonfiction engaging and interactive for your learners with nonfiction secret messages! When it comes to secret messages, your students will be intrigued by the mystery. Reluctant readers and introverted learners are still inherently curious. Mystery activates the frontal lobe of the brain. Students are engaged in problem solving and critical thinking.
Give your students a break from the traditional response activities. Give them an opportunity to do something different and still be engaged in the topic you are covering. Learn to create your own pixel art HERE.
Correct answers will begin to reveal the secret message! It’s the perfect self-checking reading comprehension activity so you can spend your time helping your students. With pixel art, students can immediately see the results of their work, which offers instant gratification. This visual feedback helps them identify areas for improvement and celebrate their progress.
Boom Cards and Slides are a blast for those nonfiction secret messages, but my absolute favorite is using Google Sheets! First, students will read a nonfiction passage and answer questions. Once they have correct answers, the colors on the sheet will begin to reveal the secret message! Try the Skeletal System Nonfiction Secret Message all on Google Sheets!
Boom Cards Magic Mirror
I love using secret messages by creating a “Magic Mirror Effect” on Boom Cards. Once you have a Boom Card account, this is so easy to do! Using Flow Magic on Boom Cards, you can use this secret magic mirror effect!
Google Slides Mystery Reveal Effect
Another way to create nonfiction secret messages is to add a secret message with Google Slides by layering slides! Again, this is so simple to do with slides, your images, and simple layers.
6. Create Interactive Slides
When students get instant feedback on assignments, it’s like giving them a superpower! Not only do they perform better on assessments, but they also internalize their knowledge in a way that sticks. That’s why self-checking assignments, like interactive Google Slides, are absolute game-changers in the classroom!
You can easily create your own Google Slides presentations to make nonfiction reading fun and interactive for your students. Interactive slides are a fantastic way to practice reading skills since students get immediate feedback as they go.
Whether it’s simple True or False or multiple-choice questions, these slides make it easy for students to engage with the material, and you can take it a step further by encouraging discussions where they provide textual evidence for their answers. It’s learning in action — and your students will love how interactive and engaging it is!
Find more Interactive Google Slides HERE.
Google Classroom for Google Slides
Share interactive slides in Google Classroom and choose the option to “Make a Copy for Each Student” to let each student have their own set of self-checking slides.
Pear Deck for Interactive Google Slides
Make slides even more interactive and engaging by using add-ons like Pear Deck to allow students to sort answers, give a “temperature check” for understanding or social-emotional learning purposes, use flashcards, and integrate animations and gifs. There are so many options with Pear Deck as a Google Chrome extension!
7. Digital Interactive Notebooks
If you’ve been teaching for a few years (or more!), you probably picture interactive notebooks as the classic paper-and-scissors version—students adding folded papers, cutting, pasting, and making their notebooks as hands-on as possible. But guess what? Interactive notebooks have leveled up in the digital age! Now, they’re online and ready to bring a whole new level of engagement to your classroom.
Digital interactive notebooks allow for greater differentiation and collaboration for your students. Try some interactive activities with digital interactive notebooks for social studies and science nonfiction made on Google Slides!
Each unit comes with eight different tasks, giving your students choice and a voice in their learning:
- True or False
- Drag and Drop Questions
- Jigsaw Puzzle
- Fill in the Blank
- Vocabulary Words
- Research
- Short Response
- Maze Phrase
When you share the digital notebook to Google Classroom with “Make a Copy for Each Student”, it’s easy for each student to experience their own differentiated assignments and choice activities through the digital interactive notebook.
8. Cube Codes
Let’s be honest – there’s some dry topics out there mandated by your state standards that feel like a total snooze-fest. But what if I told you there’s a way to turn it into an interactive, hands-on experience that actually gets students excited about learning?
Here’s how it works: Students rotate through six engaging stations, tackling challenges that boost their reading comprehension, critical thinking, and test-taking confidence.
At each station, they complete a task, earn a piece of their cube, and by the end, they’ve not only built their test-prep knowledge—they’ve built an actual cube!
Why this activity works:
✔ Keeps students moving, thinking, and engaged (no more glazed-over eyes!) ✔ Reinforces essential reading comprehension strategies in a fun, low-pressure way
✔ Builds confidence so students walk into test day ready to succeed
Revolutionary War Cube Code
Solar System Cube CodeAncient Greece
9. Board Games
Did you know you can make any board game educational with digital board games to make nonfiction engaging and interactive? Use nonfiction comprehension questions with any board game! Use digital board games to review nonfiction topics in social studies and science. It’s so easy!
First, the student answers a task card correctly. Next, they take their turn in the board game.
If they answer incorrectly, they lose a turn and play goes to the next student. Simple!
Review social studies and science topics such as:
Board Games to use with Digital Task Cards
Look at your classroom shelf? What games can you use with the digital board game task cards in your small groups or classroom rotation stations for nonfiction?
- Jenga – Remove a block after successfully answering a question.
- Candyland
- Chutes and Ladders
- Connect Four
- Sorry
- Trouble
Any board game can work with the digital task cards! The key is to focus on games with simple rules and processes, so students can focus on the digital task cards.
Making nonfiction engaging and interactive does not have to be another thing to add to your to-do list. These resources allow you to spend less time creating and planning and more time working with your students. From puzzles and escape rooms to board games galore, your students will interact with nonfiction text like never before! What methods will you use to make nonfiction engaging and interactive in your classroom?
Bonus! Go on a Comprehension Challenge
Students read and examine comprehension passages multiple times in order to complete six tasks and “race” to the finish! A little bit of competition helps your students learn and grow as readers and historians! Each quest includes the following:
- Fill in the Blank Reading Passage
- Vocabulary practice
- Crossword Puzzle
- Text Marking
- True or False Scramble
- Summary Graphic Organizer
Better yet, turn your reading comprehension into a MYSTERY to solve!
Students will work individually (or in pairs) and race to see who can solve the case first! A friendly competition always increases engagement. After completing each “task” students will earn a “CLUE CARD” to help them eliminate suspects and evidence.
As students complete each task, they will bring you their answers for you to quickly check (don’t worry…each task is short). After checking, students will earn a “CLUE CARD” with clues to solve the case.
This activity can be used for individual work, partner activities, anticipatory sets, unit review, sub plans, extension activities, early-finishers, or just for fun the day before break.
A “Top Secret Case File” is read and your “lead detectives” have less than an hour to solve the case. (Time can be changed to whatever works best for you)
FREE GAMIFICATION WORKSHOP
We’ve all been there – facing those blank stares and distant daydreams during a lesson. But what if I told you there’s a way to turn those passive learning moments into a captivating classroom adventure?
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