Unpacking Reading Fluency

You have been in school several weeks now and you are noticing something important about your students. Many are not reading fluently yet.

What exactly is oral reading fluency and how and why can one improve it? This week, we will be unpacking the concept of FLUENCY.

Reading fluency is like a braided cord. Each strand represents a foundational skill required for reading. When used together, they promote strong comprehension. Strong oral reading sounds like animated storytelling.

These foundational skills include:

• Automatic and accurate word decoding

• Vocabulary knowledge

• Intonation appropriate to the content and characters of the story

• Adjustment of pace, or rate

• Using punctuation and meaning to guide pausing

• Stress on particularly important syllables, words, phrases

The ultimate goal of reading is comprehension. Integrated reading fluency has been closely linked to comprehension, and therefore it is assessed and becomes a critical outcome of reading instruction. Though many readers are strong in word decoding or word memorization, they lack command of other fundamental fluency skills and comprehension is compromised. Classroom assessments of rate, such as DIBELS and Aimsweb, and automaticity of sight word recall only tell us part of the story when it comes to analyzing a reader's ability. As a researcher and Reading/Writing Specialist, qualitative reading assessments provide me with opportunities to observe reading behaviors. Are they decoding words accurately? If not, what do their "mistakes" reveal about their understandings of language? Are they reading in meaningful phrases? Are they adjusting the pace of their reading as they read various portions of the text? When they read dialogue, does it sound conversational? Do they stress and stretch important words depending on meaning? Readers who understand the content of what they're reading can recall and predict words that might be used in certain texts, therefore problem-solve efficiently as new words are presented. Do they self-correct mistakes when their comprehension becomes fragmented? Do they stop and make comments or giggle at the jokes within a text? All of these factors are meaningful to me, and everything matters. Everything the readers do informs me about how and why they are fluent...or not. The 5-minute video below, you will hear about the ways in which fluency influences comprehension.

https://youtu.be/OM-mi_4usvE?si=5cbX-zWUWqYPxWT9

Readers, young and mature, know what good reading sounds like. Sometimes, beginning readers pick up these aspects intuitively. For struggling readers, direct, high-quality instruction can help them deconstruct HOW to develop that prosodic, or musical, reading that they enjoy hearing. The number one activity that can improve reading fluency is CONTINUOUS, DAILY READING of a variety of self-selected text within their independent reading range. Fluency can be improved with practice.

Put simply, the equation is this: Direct Instruction in Phonics + Practice in Problem-Solving Words = Automaticity of Word Recall and Decoding Abilities = Better Overall Reading Fluency = Better Comprehension Effective strategies that teachers and Reading/Writing Specialists might use to teach aspects of oral reading fluency include include:

• Reader's Theater (plays without props)

• Repeated Readings of Fluency Passages

• Scooping and Blending Activities

• Word-Work to Support Decoding

• High Frequency Word Instruction to Improve Automaticity

• Audiobooks with Follow-Along Copies

Though there are issues that can influence reading development for example, learning disabilities, hearing loss, vision issues, cognitive impairments, and bi-lingual experiences (which I will address in subsequent posts) most readers can improve fluency with succinct instruction and practice. For more information on oral and silent reading fluency, visit ReadingRockets.org, where there are more videos and articles related to a multitude of literacy topics. Have a great week! Dawn Florino, M.Ed., Ed.D. Candidate

Certified Reading & Writing Specialist

Schoolhouse Education & Therapeutic Services