Fluency

Many people equate fluency to reading more quickly; however, fluency is the ability to rapidly decode text while maintaining a high level of understanding. In a nutshell, it serves as the bridge between decoding and comprehension. Developing sight vocabulary is the first step. These are the most common words used in the English language, many of which do not follow the phonetic rules (i.e. - was, said, were). Once word recognition becomes more automatic, rate increases, phrases are smoother (not word by word), and text is more expressive. Students also begin reading silently to themselves, which is almost twice as fast as reading aloud.

I can read accurately with expression, and I understand what I read by:

Ø Reading "good fit" books

Ø Practicing high frequency words

Ø Adjusting and applying different reading rates to match different types of texts

Ø Using punctuation to enhance phrasing and expression

Ø Rereading the same passage several times