Help students discover the powerful connection between exercise and brain function with this engaging informational text reading activity. This resource encourages students to think critically about how physical activity supports focus, memory, and learning while practicing important reading comprehension and annotation skills.

This no-prep resource is perfect for middle school classrooms and can be used for science, health, or cross-curricular literacy practice.

Students will read an engaging article about how exercise helps the brain, then complete annotation tasks, comprehension questions, and reflection prompts to deepen their understanding of the topic.

What's Included

• Informational reading passage about exercise and brain function
• Annotation task to encourage close reading and text evidence
• Multiple-choice comprehension questions
• Short-answer questions to check understanding
• Reflection questions to encourage critical thinking and personal connections

*answer key

Skills Students Practice

• Close reading
• Annotating informational text
• Identifying main idea and supporting details
• Cause and effect relationships
• Reading comprehension
• Critical thinking and reflection

Grade Level

Best suited for Grades 5–8, but can also work for advanced upper elementary or early high school support.

Perfect For

• Science or health lessons
• Literacy in science
• Informational text practice
• Sub plans
• Independent work
• Homework or review
• Early finishers

This print-and-go activity helps students strengthen reading skills while learning about the science behind exercise, brain health, and learning.