What do we mean when we talk about fluency?   

Fluency with text is the ability to read text accurately, quickly, and with proper expression. A fluent reader can read a passage smoothly without struggling to decode each word, and has fundamental skills that are so "automatic" that reading doesn’t require conscious attention.  So, what does that mean exactly? Let’s review some examples. People can perform many tasks with automaticity, or automatically, like walking, riding a bike, or driving a car. Fluency, like riding a bike, develops through practice. Students go from sounding out individual letters and letter combinations, to reading words quickly and effortlessly, with lots of opportunities for practice until reading the words can be performed with a high rate of success.  

Fluency in oral reading has 3 parts: 

1. Accuracy - which is reading with few errors.
2. Reading - speed or the rate at which a student reads.
3. Prosody - the skill of reading aloud with proper intonation, phrasing, and expression.  

To be a fluent reader, all three of these components must be in place.   

What do fluent readers look like? 

Fluency research says that successful readers… 

• rely primarily on the letters in the word rather than context or pictures to identify familiar and unfamiliar words.
• process virtually every letter.
• use letter-sound correspondences to identify words.
• have a reliable strategy for decoding words.
• read words a sufficient number of times for words to become automatic. 

Why should we focus on fluency? 

To gain meaning from text, students must read fluently. Proficient readers are so automatic with each component skill (phonological awareness, decoding, vocabulary) that they focus their attention on constructing meaning from the print. These component skills need to be well developed to support understanding. It is not enough to be simply accurate; the skill must be automatic. So, fluency is not an end in itself, but is the bridge to comprehension. Fluent reading frees up cognitive resources to better process the meaning of the words.    

Now that we know why it’s necessary, how do we help build fluency? 

• Effective fluency instruction should include repeated readings, or practice, with passages that the student can read with a high level of accuracy.
• Instruction should be brief, about 15 to 30 minutes.
• Instruction should include corrective feedback.
• Students should be instructed to set goals and graph progress.
• Teachers should keep in mind that fluency is only part of the bigger picture. 

1. Repeated Readings

• Read the same passage several times.
• Aim to reduce the time and number of errors with each attempt.
• Use this strategy with students individually, with a peer, or in small groups.

2. Goal Setting

• Identify the number of correct words to read per minute.
• Set a goal to read farther in the passage or make fewer errors.
• Define weekly learning targets to monitor progress over time.
• Identify an end of year grade level target for number of words read per minute.

3. Corrective Feedback

• Give immediate feedback if the student makes an error.
• Have the student sound out and repeat the word.
• Have the student go back and re-read the sentence.

4. Graphing Performance

• Let students see their progress by having them graph their performance.
• Have students compare their first read-through to the next read-through.
• Have students track their targets and progress over time.

Watch this video to see a demonstration of how to score oral reading fluency using a passage and stopwatch. For more information, see the DIBELS Research Site

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