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Fluency

Concepts and Research

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What is Fluency?

Fluency (automaticity) is reading words with no noticeable cognitive or mental effort. It is having mastered word recognition skills to the point of overlearning. Fundamental skills are so "automatic" that they do not require conscious attention.

Examples of automaticity:


Point to Remember:


Fluency is not an end in itself but a critical gateway to comprehension. Fluent reading frees resources to process meaning.

For students to develop fluency, they must:

Once accurate, fluency develops through plentiful opportunities for practice in which the task can be performed with a high rate of success.

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Definitions of key Fluency terminology

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What Teachers Should Know What Teachers Should Be Able to Do
  • Definition and purpose of fluency.
  • When fluency is an appropriate objective.
  • The role of fluency in a comprehensive reading program.
  • The features of text that influence fluency.
  • How fluent readers should be at grades 1, 2, and 3.
  • How much growth average readers gain per week.
  • Terminology (automaticity, fluency, slope, CWPM).
  • Assess learner performance to determine whether fluency building is an appropriate objective.
  • Set appropriate fluency goals.
  • Select and sequence text to enhance oral reading fluency.
  • Assess fluency growth over time.
  • Select and deliver instructional strategies to promote automaticity and fluency in letter sounds, irregular words, and passage reading.
(modified from Moats, 1999; see References)

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What Accuracy and Fluency with the Code and Connected Text Looks Like:

Children who are automatic with the code:

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Fluency Research Says:

Successful readers...

(Hasbrouck, 1998; see References)


Why Focus on Fluency?

To gain meaning from text, students must read fluently.

Video Clip Play Button Dr. Reid Lyon:
  • The focus of reading instruction is not only on getting students to know sounds or letters but to get to the meaning
  • Building automaticity in the component skills is analogous to learning to ride a bike
Video clip used with the permission of Reading Rockets, a project of Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association (WETA). More information is available at: http://www.ReadingRockets.org/

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