For 1), I feel like it would be more natural to use 漢字を読む as a modifier to 練習 or something:
漢字を読む練習をした
Or just 漢字の勉強をした
For 2), 勉強 tends to imply "desk study".
Again, I'd use another way of making a noun, this case using 方 which attaches to the masu-stem of a verb to mean "how to".
石の割り方を勉強している
(割る = to break or split)
If the practice is physical, you could use another word like 稽古
石を割る稽古をした (sounds like practising for one of those marital arts exhibitions where people break things with their bare hands).
@Andromedashun - you can use か like this for embedded questions, although the use with 勉強 is a bit odd. "verbを勉強" by itself would be ungrammatical, you need to make it a noun by one method or another.
どうやって石を割るか考えている = I'm thinking about how to break that stone.
行くか行かないか考えている = I'm thinking about whether to go or not.