The purpose of this action research was to improve reading comprehension and student engagement in a hybrid learning environment as measured by performance on reading comprehension assessments and student self-reporting surveys. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I conducted classes for the 2020-2021 school year in a hybrid model. In my ninth grade English class, I noticed that while lack of engagement was initially correlated with difficulty of text, once we spent a class or two discussing and analyzing these complex stories as a group the students were quicker to respond and engage. In this manner, lack of comprehension presented as a lack of student engagement. Through a review of literature on reading comprehension strategies, three strategies were identified as potential ways to increase both reading comprehension and student engagement. Implementation of these strategies and data analysis of student self-reported surveys and classroom engagement demonstrated that increased reading comprehension positively correlated to increased student engagement as measured both through data collection and teacher observation and maintained short-term gains regardless of modality of instruction.