Reading rate is the speed at which you read. Reading speed can be too slow to support understanding (comprehension) or too fast. Reading at an appropriate speed provides the best support for comprehension because your brain can 'listen' to you read and understand the reading, much like it does when listening to someone speaking or reading aloud. Have you ever listened to someone speak really fast (like at the end of a commercial with the 'fine print')? It is very hard to understand what is being said. The same goes for when someone is speaking too slow, you lose focus and your brain wanders to other things. Research has shown that reading at an appropriate rate supports comprehension. (Tenenbaum & Wolking, 1989) Research also shows that students who work on reading rate through repeated reading exercises perform better on standardized testing, not only on the reading portion, but the math too! (Crawford, Tindal, & Stieber, 2001)
Just right speed is something that develops over time as readers grow and learn. There are many sources which tell educators what expected reading rates are for students in various grades. One can be found included in this article shared by Reading Rockets Fluency Norms Chart (2017 Update) (Hasbrouk & Tindal, 2017) but it is important to remember that these are wide ranges and every child develops at their own pace.
Supporting reading rate at home:
Choral reading: Begin by choosing a book or passage that your child can read independently and read it together, at the same time using your voice to guide how the reading should sound. Model using a good speed and natural expression. This helps your child understand what fluent reading feels like, and they can practice it at your pace. (Kloss, 2019) This strategy will help with reading rate and expression!
Rereading: Have your child read books more than once. Rereading build fluency and comprehension. It also allows them to practice expression, as they become more comfortable with the words, they can be more expressive. (Meier, n.d)
Read to your child: Reading aloud to your child and modeling appropriate rate and expression helps them to know how good reading sounds. (Meier, n.d)
Buddy Reading: Sit with your child with a book they can read alone or with some help. Read a page modeling appropriate rate and expression, then have them read the same page. Do this for several pages. As they read more and more fluently, begin alternating pages, you read one, they read the next. (Reading Rockets, 2012)