Christmas Music Reading Comprehension | 10 Festive Pieces

This resource contains 10 Christmas music activities combining reading comprehension with music listening. Each activity introduces a different piece of festive music, with information about the composer, the music and its background.

Pupils read a short passage and answer five comprehension questions. A QR code is included for each piece so pupils can listen to the music being discussed.

The collection features music by composers including Antonio Vivaldi, Edward Elgar, Eric Whitacre, J.S. Bach, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sergei Prokofiev and Victor Hely-Hutchinson.

What’s included

• 10 reading passages about Christmas music
• 50 comprehension questions, five for each passage
• Suggested answers for all questions
• QR codes linking to recordings of the featured music
• Printable PDF containing all activities and answers

Reading comprehension

Questions cover a range of reading skills, including retrieving information, understanding vocabulary, making inferences, explaining ideas and summarising.

The passages also introduce pupils to different composers, musical periods and Christmas traditions. Listening to the music alongside the reading activities provides some useful context.

Using the resource

Each activity can be completed independently, so teachers can select individual pieces or work through the whole collection.

Suitable for:

• KS2 and secondary music lessons, depending on reading ability
• Christmas-themed reading comprehension
• Music appreciation
• Independent work
• Cover lessons
• End-of-term activities

All suggested answers are included. No specialist musical knowledge is required to complete the reading activities.