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Best Practices for Developing Reading Fluency

  • michelekonar
  • Sep 16, 2021
  • 4 min read

Fluency is an integral part of literacy. It is also a skill that many new and struggling readers have difficulty with. Being able to read fluenty is not just being able to read the words, the reader must also be able to read aloud with expression and with automaticity. New readers, as well as struggling readers often have to pause and decode words while reading. This interrupts the flow of reading, which in turn makes it difficult for the reader as well as the listener to derive meaning from what is being read. There are also readers who have little difficulty in decoding words, read aloud with prosody, expression, and automaticity, yet do not comprehend what is being read. Both of these are examples of non-fluent readers.

A fluent reader can both read with automaticy and comprehend what is being read. The following strategies have been identified as best practices for increasing reading fluency. I have found great success using these strategies in my Language and Learning Delayed and ELL classrooms. I hope you are able to implement some of them and find success with your readers as well.


Model Fluent Reading


The best and easiest way to build fluency is to model it. Students need to hear what fluent reading sounds like. Model fluent reading of multiple types of text to your students. Fiction, non-fiction, plays, poems, newspaper and magazine articles all require a different prosody that students need to be exposed to in order to develop their own fluency.


Repeated Readings


The more time a reader interacts with the same piece of text the more fluency they will build. Repeated readings offer students multiple exposures to the same piece of text. Kodan and Akyol (2018), note "repeated reading is an effective strategy that exposes poor students actively to intense reading." Repeated readings are timed and marked for errors, and the process is repeated with the same piece of text until the reader is able to self-correct and read at the demand level. Repeated readings not only increase fluency but they also increase WCPM (words correct per minute) scores, which adds to automaticity in reading.



Readers Theater


Readers theater is a group practice that gives students the opportunity to repeatedly read short, meaningful passages until they reach fluency (Mraz, et al., 2013). Readers theater provides many benefits in terms of fluency acquisition. Those who are listening are able to focus on making meaning from the words and comprehending the material. Those who are speaking benefit from repeated readings of the same text which increases oral fluency and prosody skills. Readers theater is a great choice for including fluency instruction in the upper grades as it can be easily incorporated into content areas such as Social Studies where students can portray historical characters and immerse themselves in the content, promoting comprehension and reading fluency.

Phrased Readings


Fluency involves reading phrases and sentences as a whole, not reading word by word. Poetry is an easy way to have students practice phrased reading. Poetry, by its nature is broken into short phrases and lines which are easy for readers to practice. Write the lines of a selected poem on sentence strips and model reading the lines. Blau (2020), notes this is a good way to show students how to cluster portions of text when reading aloud, which is something fluent readers do automatically.


Tutors

Tutors are great for working with readers to build fluency. Peer tutors, as well as adult and parent volunteers work well in the classroom setting. Tutors can work with small groups or with individual students. The tutor can model fluent reading, as well as utilize phrased readings, repeated readings, paired readings and choral readings with the students. Kupzyk and Daly (2017), not parent tutors are especially effective because they can provide explicit modeling of text, as well as repeated readings and corrective feedback as well as giving them direct involvement in student education. Using tutors in the classroom is beneficial for struggling readers who may be intimidated by reading aloud in front of the class. Working with a tutor gives them the chance to build fluency and become more confident in their reading skills without an audience.


There are a multitude of reading fluency strategies that can be implemented in the classroom, the key is finding what strategies work for your students, providing practice and being consistent. Effective teachers use a variety of strategies, choosing the ones that best meet the needs of the reader in the moment (Konar, 2021). To become successfu, fluent readers, multiple, repeated interactions with text and as well as proper modeling are required. Consistency is the key to developing and building fluency in readers.

Blau, L. (2005). 5 Surefire strategies for developing reading fluency. Scholastic.com

Kodan, H., & Akyol, H. (2018). Effects of choral, repeated and assisted reading strategies on

reading and reading comprehension skills of poor readers. Education & Science/

Egitim ve Bilim, 42(193), pp.159-179.

Konar, M. (2021). Discovering and sharing best practices. [Unpublished manuscript]. American

College of Education.

Kupzyk, S. S., & Daly, E. J. (2017). Teachers engaging parents as reading tutors. Contemporary

School Psychology, 21(2), pp.140-151. https://DOI:10.1007/s40688-016-0133-y

Mraz, M., Nichols, W., Caldwell, S., Beisley, R., Sargent, S., & Rupley, W. (2013). Improving

oral reading fluency through readers theater. Reading Horizons, 52(2), pp.163-180.


 
 
 

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