Fluency is the ability to read text accurately, at an appropriate pace, with expression. It is the bridge between word recognition and comprehension. As decoding is automatized, students increase their ability to read texts fluently, freeing cognitive resources to focus on the meaning of the texts. First and foremost, reading fluency relies on accuracy.
Students must integrate subskills such as fluent word recognition to read words accurately, which, in turn, supports their reading of sentences and paragraphs with accuracy and fluency. Additionally, students should be able to read texts with appropriate pacing, and with expression and intonation that facilitate comprehension and convey meaning.
Reading fluency develops as a result of strong instruction in other core components of literacy: phonological awareness, phonics, and vocabulary. To read a text fluently, students must have accurate and automatic word reading skills (Hudson et al., 2009). Text-level fluency develops with extended opportunities to practice oral reading (Zimermann et al., 2021).
Reading fluency is considered the bridge between two essential components of reading, decoding and comprehension. This relationship is reciprocal, with each fostering the other. A fluent reader can decode text automatically and can focus their attention on comprehending what they read (Pikulski & Chard, 2005). Fluency supports motivation to read (Hasbrouck, 2020).
In the nonfluent reader, weak word recognition slows the process and uses resources needed for comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000). Students who score lower on fluency also score lower on comprehension (Jenkins et al., 2003).
First and foremost, fluent reading is accurate reading. Early reading instruction should be focused on building students’ word-level reading skills through evidence-based, systematic and explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, and decoding.
Reading fluency is multifaceted; to fluently read passages, students must have automaticity with important subskills, including phonemic awareness, grapheme-phoneme correspondences, and word reading. Students become fluent readers when we teach all of the subskills involved in reading, and provide many opportunities for supported practice reading texts out loud.
Classroom practices that support the development of reading fluency include:
“The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning.”
Growing Success, 2010, p. 28
A variety of sources of insight into students’ reading fluency, including early reading screening, diagnostic tools, and progress monitoring, can be used as assessment for learning to drive evidence-based explicit and systematic instruction.
Reading fluency is often measured as a combination of rate and accuracy, in words read correctly in one minute (Hudson et al., 2009). These brief, standardized measures of oral reading fluency (ORF) allow us to determine who is at-risk earlier, in order to provide appropriate instruction and timely intervention.
Diagnostic assessments, such as phonics and phonemic awareness inventories, allow educators to look more closely at students who struggle with reading fluency, in order to determine instructional needs.
For students receiving extra support, progress monitoring with ORF tasks allows for very brief probes to quickly and efficiently measure student progress. This allows educators to make decisions about intensifying or reducing support based on a student’s needs and progress.
Put Reading First is a summary of the findings from the Report of the National Reading Panel, summarized in a brief, easy-to-read comprehensive guide to evidence-based reading instruction. Intended for educators and administrators, this guide aims to improve reading outcomes for children in the early
In this IDA Ontario podcast featuring Kate Winn and Dr Jan Hasbrouck the focus is on the significance of reading fluency and its impact on students 8217 literacy development Reading fluency characterized by accuracy rate and prosody plays a vital role in overall reading proficiency and comprehension The podcast highlights
This PaTTAN Webinar focuses on partner reading a classwide intervention to improve students 8217 fluency This is an intervention that can be used best in grades 2 8 but also possible in mid year of grade 1 Lindsay Kemeny implemented this class wide intervention in her grade 2 classroom and
This webinar will support educators in determining oral reading fluency goals specifically for accuracy and rate and how to provide instruction for these goals in a small group setting Michael Hunter provides examples of assessment with a focus on accuracy error tracking using decodable texts and how to provide small
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