Fluency

A fluent reader does not need to give their attention to decoding the words. Instead, he/she can concentrate on what the text means and develop comprehension skills.  They can make connections among the ideas in the text and their background knowledge. In other words, fluent readers recognize words and comprehend at the same time. Less fluent readers, however, must focus their attention on figuring out the words, leaving them little attention for understanding the meaning of text.

Building a student’s reading fluency involves four essential components:

1.   Focus on a child’s oral reading by modeling frequently with read-alouds…daily

2.   Give support using various techniques – choral, recorded material, etc.

3.   Provide ample opportunities for practice – repeated readings 

4.   Providing ongoing, positive, and constructive feedback as the person reads aloud

• Oral Reading that is Choppy,Labored, and/or Lacks Attention to Punctuation (Prosody)

• Low Fluency Rate