Reading
For our intents and purposes, fluent reading is defined as accurate, expressive, and well-paced at or above grade-level. Furthermore, skillful readers comprehend the texts they are reading, including key details, concepts, and vocabulary.
Accuracy
Accuracy is the ability to read the text with very few or no mistakes. A student with high fluency and speed but low accuracy is not getting the full meaning and will not be able to comprehend what they have read.
Expression
Expression is the ability to identify the tone, or feeling, of a text and reflect it while reading aloud. Carnegie Learning defines expression (or prosody) as "the variables of timing, phrasing, emphasis, and intonation that speakers use to help convey aspects of meaning and to make their speech lively. " Students with poor prosody sound robotic and monotone.
Rate
Generally speaking, reading rate (or speed, measured in Words Read Correctly per Minute) doesn't impact comprehension and isn't as worthwhile a measure as accuracy, expression, or comprehension. However, as Timothy Shanahan explains, "short term memory has limited capacity, so as one slows down this capacity starts to get overwhelmed. If they go to[o] slow the text stops making sense. And, perhaps, abnormally slow reading would make it difficult to sustain interest and attention, encouraging readers to wander off, mentally and perhaps even physically. "
Comprehension
From grade K-3, students learn to read. From 4th grade on, students read to learn, which means their success in all subjects hinge on their ability to comprehend a text. The five main skills of comprehension are:
Identify Main Idea & Key Details
Sequence a Passage into an Ordinal Series.
Answer Direct Recall Questions.
Ability to Make Inferences and/or Predictions.
Identify Unfamiliar Vocabulary.
