Expression refers to sounding like the characters in the story or sounding like the mood of the story. We often remind children to use punctuation to help and to pay attention to the feelings of the characters as they read.

Very simply, accuracy is getting the words right. Students need to read accurately to understand the story. If they make a mistake, our hope is that they will catch it and self-correct that mistake.

Rate is how fast or how slow the reader is reading. We don't want students racing down the track. We remind them to read at a just right pace to help understanding. Too slow or too fast can break down comprehension.

Smoothness refers to reading in long, smooth phrases from capital to punctuation mark. We remind students that there is no robot reading. They also should not blow past punctuation. That would be like running a stop sign and an injury could occur- to their comprehension!