Fluency
A Parent’s Guide to Oral Reading Fluency
What is Oral Reading Fluency?
Oral reading fluency is the ability to read quickly, easily, and with expression. It means a child can recognize and decode words accurately, follow the punctuation of the passage, and understand the meaning of the words being read. Children who lack fluency have to work hard on the mechanics of reading and often struggle with comprehending or making sense out of the words they read.
How do I assess my child’s reading fluency?
A simple way to know if your child is reading fluently is to listen to him/her read a grade level text aloud. Have your child read the passages I send home each week. As your child reads consider the following:
How many words does he/she struggle with?
How easily is he/she sounding out unknown words?
Is he/she reading with expression?
Does he/she follow the punctuation? (pause at commas, stop at periods)
Can he/she retell the story or summarize what the passage was about?
How can I help my child read fluently?
Model fluent reading - Read aloud to your child. Be sure to follow punctuation and read with expression. I like to change voices to help distinguish between characters. You could also take turns with your child alternating reading a paragraph or page each.
Practice - Read the weekly passage each night or select passages from the nightly RAH reading. Repeated reading has proven to be one of the best strategies for developing reading fluency. As children become familiar with the text, their fluency generally increases.
*Be sure the passage is on the correct/independent reading level for your child. Remember the five finger rule. If your child struggles with more than 5 words on a page, the book/passage is not on their independent reading level.
Monitor weekly progress – Be sure to keep track of the reading rate. Children love to see their hard work pay off. They are always eager to see the number of words read correctly go up each week.
