Big Six of Reading

1. 
Improving Reading Fluency
Parson Hills Elementary
“Children are made readers
on the laps of their parents.”
~Emilie Buchwald

2. What is reading fluency?
 Reading fluency is a set of skills that refer to a
student's speed, accuracy, and ease of oral reading.
 A fluent reader …
 recognizes most words by sight.
 is able to read aloud easily, smoothly, and with the
rhythm of natural speech.
 decodes unknown words quickly.
 attends to punctuation.
 reads with proper expression.
 Fluent readers gain more meaning from the what they
read and enjoy reading more than students who devote
all their energy to sounding out words.

3. Learning reading fluency
is like learning to ride a bike.
 Do you remember learning to ride a bike?
 Did you take off quickly the first time?
 Did it get easier the more you practiced?
 Initially, you needed to concentrate hard
 On pedaling and steering
 Staying upright
 Going fast enough not to fall over
 Going slow enough to not tumble
 Learning to read is a similar experience!

4. Why is this skill necessary?
 Being able to read the words accurately, quickly, and with
expression allows the reader to focus on the meaning of the
text rather than each word.
 Children who are weak in the skill of fluency read slowly,
even word by word. They focus on figuring out the words
instead of understanding the meaning of what they read.
 The National Reading Panel concluded that repeated oral
reading procedures that included guidance from teachers,
peers, or parents had a significant and positive impact on
word recognition, fluency, and comprehension across grade
levels.

5. Timed Readings…
 Practice reading for Speed.
Set a timer for 1 minute. Mark any words your child
misses as s/he reads. At the end of 1 minute, talk to
your child about what word(s) s/he missed.
 Practice reading for Expression.
Set a timer for 1 minute. Mark any words your child
misses as s/he reads. At the end of 1 minute, talk to
your child about what word(s) s/he missed.

6. How do we calculate reading fluency?
Total
Number
of
Words
Read
Number
of
Errors
Words
Correct
per
Minute
(WPM)
Fall WPM Winter WPM Spring WPM
3rd Grade 79 93 114
4th Grade 99 112 123
5th Grade 105 118 130
The student is given an appropriately leveled passage
and timed for exactly one minute.

7. How do we calculate reading accuracy?
Correct
number
of
words
read
Total
number
of
words
read
Percent
accuracy
Independent level (95%-100% accuracy)
Instructional level (90%-94% accuracy)
Frustration level (<90% accuracy)

8. What can you do?
 Practice reading Sight Words and Phrases with speed and
accuracy.
 Provide many opportunities to practice reading out loud to
you or another family member. Reading fluency develops as
a result of many opportunities to practice reading.
 Encourage your child to reread a text up to 4 times out
loud to you or a family member. Research shows that re-
reading text up to 4 times produces optimum results.
*Presenter notes*

9. During reading, your child is practicing…
 Accuracy: reading the words correctly.
 Automaticity: recognizing words without conscious
decoding.
 Pace: not too fast, not too slow, but just right to sound
like natural speech.

10. Activities to Practice Fluency
For students still learning their basic sight words
 Repeated Reading: Practice the same book repeatedly in order to
increase speed of word recognition. (Usually 3 - 4 readings)
 Echo Reading: Parent reads a phrase or sentence while emphasizing
their expression and intonation. (Increase number of sentences as
reading improves). Child repeats, trying to mimic the parent’s speed
and expression. Ex: Help! My dog is lost. Can you help me look for my
dog.
 Timed Repeated Reading: Have your child read the same passage for 1
minute 3-5times (3-5). The adult counts how many words the child read
in 1 minute. Try to beat your score each time!
 Tape Assisted Reading: Child reads aloud or silently with a book or
tape. Make sure your child is tracking the text as they listen.

11. During reading, what can you do to help?

12. Activities to Practice Reading Fluency
For students who have developed a basic sight word vocabulary
 Choral Reading: Read a book aloud to your child. Then have your
child reread the book with you.
 Student-Adult Reading: Read one-on-one with your child. You
read first, providing your child with a model of fluent reading.
Then have your child read the same passage to you.
 Partner Reading: Parent and child can take turns reading aloud to
each other.
 Independent Reading: Your child engages in independent silent
reading with minimal guidance and feedback.
 Don’t forget to ask your child questions about what they read.

13. During reading, you are modeling…
 Expression by varying your voice tone, pitch, and volume to
reflect the meaning of the text.
 Pausing for punctuation. Experienced readers take short
breaths for commas, voice stopping and going down for periods,
and stopping and going up for question marks.
 Smoothness by avoiding pauses, hesitations, sound-outs,
repetitions, and multiple attempts for the words in the text.
 Stress by creating emphasis (louder tones) on particular words,
like “Did you see my adorable puppy?” or “I LOVE reading!”

14. If your child is already reading independently
... hold them accountable!
 Ask them questions about what they have read.
 Encourage them to try books from other
genres.
 Still have them read aloud to you at least two
times a week to keep them growing as a reader
too.

15. References:
 UT Systems and TEA, 2002, Effective Fluency Instruction
and Progress Monitoring.
http://www.slideshare.net/artman75/fluency-
presentation
 Buzz Worthy Ideas, Amy Anastas, 2015, What is Fluency?
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/What-
is-Fluency-1936492
 Reading Rockets, 2012, Fluency Matters
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/fluency-matters

16. Research shows…
 “Repeated reading procedures that offer guidance and feedback
are effective for improving word, recognition, fluency,
comprehension, and overall reading achievement through 5th
grade.”
 ~National Reading Panel, 2000