Fluency

What is Fluency?

Fluency is the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and expression. Fluency is not necessarily the ability to read fast. It refers more to the smoothness and pace, and expression during reading.

Characteristics of Students who Struggle with Fluency:

• Difficulty decoding words

• Frequent stops to sound out words

• Low retention of content after short spurts of reading

• Phrasing and intonation is awkward

• Low or no expression in oral reading

• Does not recognize or use punctuation

Importance of Fluency:

Students who struggle to read at the appropriate pace, without many mistakes probably have an issue with reading fluency. This can definitely impact reading comprehension. However, it is important to realize that not all reading problems begin with comprehension problems. If fluency is problem, knowing how to address it is important.

FlueNcy Activities:

• Read aloud so that students can hear fluent academic reading

• Pair students for partner reading

• Engage students in Reader's Theatre for practice reading fluently

• Break down multisyllabic vocabulary into it's syllables prior to reading

• Allow students to use texts that are read aloud (Immersive Reader is a great tool for online texts)

• Use pre-reading strategies to help students access prior knowledge, review important vocabulary, and make predictions