Fluency

What is Fluency?

"The National Reading Panel (2000) defines fluency as "the ability to recognize words easily, read with greater speed, accuracy and expression, and to better understand what is read." When students are fluent, they recognize words automatically and are able to read for meaning. Reading comprehension is the goal, and fluency provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension (Duke & Cartwright, 2021)."

(Kemeny, L. (2023). 7 Mighty Moves, p. 110)

When to Address Fluency?

Before developing fluency, students must acquire foundational reading skills such as phonemic awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and decoding abilities. Once these skills are solid, fluency becomes the logical next step. Students who read slowly but accurately are ideal candidates for fluency intervention.

(Kemeny, L. (2023). 7 Mighty Moves, p. 111)

The Cornerstones of Fluency

Accuracy

Accuracy means reading the words correctly and is the foundation of fluency. To read accurately, a strong foundation in phonics paired with lots of opportunities to apply phonics skills is needed (i.e., opportunities to read continuous text to internalize the phonics concepts taught). To maintain comprehension, a reasonable target for accuracy is 98 percent.

Rate

Rate is the speed at which students read words. To develop reading rate, students need automaticity, which is the ability to recognize letters, letter patterns, and words automatically.

Prosody

Prosody is the expression and phrasing students use when reading and includes their intonation and volume, and the degree to which they emphasize words and phrases.

(Kemeny, L. (2023). 7 Mighty Moves, p. 111-113)

Instructional Implications

Repeated oral reading is a highly effective method for developing fluency. Research has shown that pairing repeated oral reading with a listening passage preview (where the teacher models fluent reading before students read it) and having students repeat a passage four times is the most effective method for students with reading difficulties.

To maintain student engagement, vary your techniques to include:

Echo Reading - Students hear a model of the text and then repeat what they hear.
Choral Reading - Students read all together in unison.
Partner Reading - Students read in paris.

(Kemeny, L. (2023). 7 Mighty Moves, p. 113-114)

Instructional Techniques

(Kemeny, L. (2023). 7 Mighty Moves, p. 118-127)

Read, Model, Read Again

Using decodable books and authentic texts:

Have the student(s) read aloud a portion of the text (i.e., a sentence, a few sentences, a paragraph, or a page) to decode the words.
Model-read the same portion of text for the student(s), while he/she/they track the text with a finger to permit them to hear fluent, expressive reading.
Have the student(s)reread the same portion of text for another exposure to the words, to develop fluency, and build confidence.

Paried Reading/Choral Reading

The teacher and student(s) read the text aloud at the same time. The teacher should read slightly faster and louder than the student(s) typically read(s), while the student(s) and teacher track the text with a finger. Challenge students to try to keep their voice with yours.

Cloze Reading

Read aloud a text, modelling appropriate pacing and prosody, while students follow along with a finger on their own copy. PAuse at words you want student to read and they read the word.

Echo Reading

Read a short section of text first (a phrase or sentence), and students repeat it. This is especially helpful for beginning readers.

Performing

Give students the chance to practice reading a text multiple times for an audience. For instance, introduce a poem on Monday by reading it aloud while students follow along. During the week, encourage echo reading, cloze reading, and choral reading. By the end of the week, students can volunteer to perform the poem in small groups, allowing everyone who wants to participate. Other texts to consider include Reader's Theatre scripts and speeches.

Visit the below site by Dr. Chase Young for already crafted reader's theatre scripts:

https://www.thebestclass.org/rtscripts.html

Text Scooping

Scooping phrases involves visually chunking text into meaningful units by drawing scoops under groups of words that naturally go together. These scoops indicate pauses, intonation changes, or emphasis changes. For instance, consider the sentence ‘The sun sets behind the mountains.’ The scoops would be placed under ‘The sun sets’ and ‘behind the mountains.’ This technique helps students read by phrases rather than word by word, which can enhance comprehension.

Partner Reading

Partner reading can be structured in various ways. Here are two techniques:

Alternating Reading: Each partner reads a designated protion of the text before switching. For example, you can switch every other sentence, paragraph, or page.
Me-We Reading: Partners take turns reading aloud on each page. Before starting, Partner 1 chooses either "me" or "we." If they choose "me," they read the page indpendently. If they choose "we," both partners read the page aloud together. On the next page, Partner 2 makes the choice.

Practiced Timed Reading

This approach can be applied at the letter, word, or text level. First, ask the student to preview the material and practice reading the passage. Next, have them review their previous performance and set a goal. Finally, ask the student to read aloud for one minute, making note of any errors. Provide feedback and subtract the number of errors from the total words read in that minute. Graph the data, and then have the student re-read the same passage for another opportunity to practice and improve their score.

SPORT - Synchronized Paired Oral Reading Technique

Students chorally read together with a partner. Pair a more fluent reader with a less fluent reader. The more fluent reader could be a teacher, a parent, a volunteer, a sibling or student. (Teaching Literacy podcast, July 7th episode).

Assigning Reading Partners

When assigning reading partners, be intentional and consider pairing low-performing students with average-performing students. Avoid pairing your strongest readers with your weakest ones. To create partnerships, follow these steps:

1. Fluency Ranking: List your students in order from least fluent to most

fluent.

2. Split the Class: Divide the class in half.

3. Pairing Strategy: Assign the most fluent reader from one half to the most

fluent reader in the other half. Continue this pattern for the second most

fluent, third most fluent, and so on.

4. Odd Number of Students: If you have an odd number of students,

designate a ‘floater’—a fluent reader who can pair with a student whose

partner is absent. Alternatively, create a triad where the strongest reader

reads first, and the remaining two students read simultaneously. This

provides support for beginning readers.

5. Regular Changes: Consider changing partnerships every 3 to 6 weeks.

6. Anonymous Partnerships: Assign fun names (like ‘cookie and milk’ or

‘peanut butter and jelly’) to partnerships. This way, students won’t

know who the stronger reader is.

(Kemeny, L. (2023). 7 Mighty Moves, p. 120)

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