Enhancing Reading Comprehension with Cross-Curricular Scavenger Hunts

 Written by Emily Upton - Posted May 5, 2024

The worst thing about teaching science and social studies was the textbooks. They were a super boring, dated snoozefest that did not engage my students, so they immediately forgot what they read. Want an alternative to the dusty textbooks sitting on your shelf? You need scavenger hunts. Picture your students being fully engaged in a fun and interactive learning experience that not only bolsters their reading skills but also covers a range of subjects such as science and history. 

No more boring worksheets, textbooks, or repetitive exercises. These scavenger hunts will transform your teaching while helping your students actually retain what they're learning. They're a chance for your students to collaborate while working on finding details in a text. These aren't your typical task cards! Read on for tips on how to use scavenger hunts in your classroom.

What Are Reading Scavenger Hunts?

Reading scavenger hunts are a combination of task cards and escape rooms while mixing in reading comprehension. Get your students up and moving as they learn about science and social studies topics! Each scavenger hunt includes 10 mini reading passages about a topic. 

Students will read the 10 short comprehension passages as they hunt for the passage that matches 

the "code word clue" on each card. 

As they collect their answers, they record them on the special recording sheet. At the end of the scavenger hunt, they unscramble the letters to reveal the secret word.

They are super easy to set up. Simply print and cut out the passage cards, then hide them around your classroom. Students will love hunting for each card in the scavenger hunt path! And you'll love that they are practicing rereading and finding details in a text.

Benefits of Cross-Curricular Reading Scavenger Hunts

Beyond the obvious benefits of being more engaging for students and giving you an alternative to boring textbooks, there are lots of benefits to using scavenger hunts in your classroom!

• Get Students Moving: Scavenger hunts give your students a chance to get up out of their seats and move around the room. It's important to give our students chances to stand up and walk around throughout the day, and these allow you to do that without losing instructional time.

• Practice Citing Answers: Students are required to write down the number of the card where they found the answer to the "code word clue". This helps students practice citing where they found their information! This is a great time for students to also practice reading to identify specific details in the text. They are looking for the sentence that contains the code word clue each time.

• Create a Challenge: Instead of task cards that follow a specific order, students have to hunt through the cards to find the correct answer. This means that they will be rereading the passages over and over! Rereading the content will help the information stick, and having to search for the answers instead of knowing what comes next will keep them engaged in the challenge.

How to Use Reading Scavenger Hunts

You can use reading scavenger hunts in a variety of ways. They are a great review before an assessment on a specific topic. You could also use them to frontload information about a new unit. 

Scavenger hunts make great sub activities because there's not a lot of prep! Simply print the cards and leave them for your students.

For me, cross-curricular connections are my jam. I love using scavenger hunts to practice reading skills during science and social studies! This lets my students practice reading while also learning content for a different subject area.

Examples of Cross-Curricular Reading Scavenger Hunts

Ready to dive in? Check out these examples of cross-curricular scavenger hunts! Each scavenger hunt includes 10 short passages about the given topic.