Fluency Cheat Sheet

What is fluency?

Fluency is reading text with accuracy, at a good rate and with prosody or expression.

Why is this skill important?

• Skilled readers read text with accuracy, at a good rate, and with prosody or expression. This means that students are able to read text at a manageable rate (word read per minute), with few errors (accuracy), and with expression that matches what is laid out in the text (e.g., punctuation).
• For young readers, fluency connects to reading comprehension. The more fluent a reader, the better they are at understanding what they read.
• There are two ways that fluency has been taught and practiced in school settings:
  • 1) guided oral reading procedures (e.g., paired reading, repeated reading, shared reading, assisted reading)
  • 2) independent practice (e.g., Sustained Silent Reading, Drop Everything And Read).

There is research to support the use of guided oral reading procedures to increase students’ reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. There is no current research to support the application of independent reading to build student fluency. Therefore, this guide focuses on the application of guided oral reading procedures.

How long and how often?

When should it start?

Students should begin fluency instruction and practice only after they have received explicit, systematic instruction in word recognition and word reading.

Usually around the middle of 1st grade, students can be taught to “read like you speak” when they are reading sentences and short paragraphs.

How long? 15-20 minutes

How often? Starting in mid-1st grade, regularly (3-5 times per week)

How to Explicitly Teach this Skill

Model Fluent Reading

In 1st and 2nd grades, it is important for students to hear fluent reading and understand what makes it fluent.

Step 1: Choose a sentence, passage or text that is at students’ general instructional level.

Step 2: Tell students: When we read, we want to sound like we are talking. That means we read not too fast or too slow. We try to read every word correctly and sound out words we do not know. We also read with expression, stopping at or changing our voices for punctuation.

Note: You may do separate lessons for each of the punctuation marks to show students how to read each. You may also do lessons where you read too fast, too slow, or with no expression -- like a robot -- to help students understand what the right pace means.

Step 3: Before you read, prompt students to listen to one aspect of how you are reading. For example: Listen to how I am reading the words. You are going to tell me if I read them all correctly.

Step 4: Read the sentence or passage with fluency. Repeat as necessary.

Step 5: Have students provide feedback or notice how your reading was fluent.

Choral Reading

During choral reading, students read along with the teacher.

Step 1: Choose a text that is at the general instructional level for the class.

Step 2: If possible, put the text on the document camera to model. Provide students with their own copy of the text.

Step 3: Read the passage to students one time.

Step 4: Tell students that they are going to read along with you. This is to practice reading like we speak.

Step 5: Signal students to start reading. Students read along with you. Have students use a finger or marker to point to each word as they read it.

Echo Reading

During echo reading, the teacher reads a sentence at a time, modeling fluent reading, and the students echo.

Step 1: Choose a text that is at the general instructional level for the class.

Step 2: If possible, put the text under a document camera to model. Provide students with their own copy of the text.

Step 3: Read the passage, one sentence at a time. Model strong expression.

Step 4: Have students read after you. Stop at every punctuation mark (period, exclamation point, etc) to have students echo. Have students use a finger or marker to point to each word as they read it.

Repeated Reading

In repeated reading, students identify a criterion (goal) and read the same passage over and over until they reach that goal. This activity may happen over the course of a few lessons depending on how much stamina the child has.

Step 1: Choose a passage that is at the instructional level of the child.

Step 2: Set a goal for the child. This goal should be related to accuracy (words correct per minute) or rate (words read in one minute), however, they should not sacrifice one for another. So they should not speed read, but not read with accuracy.

Step 3: Have the student read the passage with you a few times, tracking their progress towards the goal.

Step 4: The student may practice independently or with a partner until they reach their goal.

Step 5: Once the student has reached their goal, select another passage and goal and start again.

Paired Reading

This procedure pairs students together to read and provide feedback.

Step 1: Plan by listing students by their fluency skills (strongest to weakest). Students with the weakest fluency levels will work with the teacher.

Step 2: Pair students, matching strong readers with mid-level readers.

Step 3: Teach students how to give feedback and how to manage time.

Step 4: Select a text that is appropriate for the practice. It should be at the instructional level, as much as possible, for the weaker student.

Step 5: Working in pairs, the first student reads the passage while the second one gives feedback; such as support, encouragement and praise. Then, they switch.

Step 6: Continue reading until they have read it through for a set number of times or until they have reached a criterion (e.g., they have both read it with no errors, or they have read it and answered two questions about what they read).

Suggested Connections

Model fluency during the classroom read-aloud. Model how fluency impacts reading by adding voices; changes in rate or expression impact how we understand what we read.

Prep & Materials

• Leveled reading passages
  • Instructional Level: 90-94% accuracy or the student misses one word out of every 10 they read
  • Independent Level: 95% + accuracy or the child misses one word out of every 20 they read correctly
• A timer (to help manage time, not to assess students)

If you are implementing paired reading, pre-teach:

• How to give feedback and how to manage time
• How to use a finger or marker to point to each word as it is read

Considerations/ Differentiation

When a child is ready to start learning fluency:

• Children are ready to start practicing fluency when they have a strong grasp of high-frequency words and phonics so that they are able to read many words on their own. This is often in the middle of 1st grade.

Considerations for students who struggle with fluency:

• If a child is struggling with fluency, consider working on their word reading or decoding skills instead of fluency. If a student is reading below 90% accuracy and at a slow rate for their grade level, word decoding may be the most important skill. If a student is reading with strong accuracy, but at a slow rate, then fluency practice would be a good intervention.
• During choral reading, if a student is not able to keep up, have him or her follow along with a finger or marker, without reading the words.
• Repeated reading is an intervention that students who are struggling with fluency can use to strengthen their fluency. During repeated reading, have students read an instructional level passage to a criterion (e.g., reading 90% accuracy).

Other considerations:

• Do not push students to “read fast.” This is counterproductive. The goal is to “read like you speak” with the ultimate goal of understanding what you read because you are a fluent reader, not becoming a fluent reader so you can understand what you read.

References and Additional Resources

• Fluency Guide
• Reading fluency assessment and instruction