Got Fluency?

Anyone get a fluency reading score coming home from school for their school-age child recently? You may have recently received a report that gives a single number which represents the number of words your child read in one minute. Anyone wondering why we are timing our students to see how many words they can read in one minute?

I have very mixed feelings about these fluency scores and the message they send to our students. After all, why would we want to teach our kids to read as fast as they can? This flies in the face of everything I know as a reading specialist. However, there are a two redeeming things about these fluency scores. The first is they are quick and easy to give. Schools are desperately looking for data these days to drive instruction, and when you are talking about giving assessments to hundreds of kids multiple times a year, it gets complicated. The second reason is that research shows that a fluency score is one (albeit ONLY one), indicator of future success as a reader.

I have sat and given hundreds of these assessments for the past couple years and here is one thing I know. There are students that have beautiful command of the text, with perfect tone and pace that sound much better than students who race through the text meaninglessly and end up with a higher fluency score. I just wish they wouldn’t call it a fluency score. Speed is only one small part of fluency and that message is unfortunately lost on many students who are simple being asked to read fast.

By the way, how do you improve your child’s fluency? Two simple things. Have them read often and make time to read aloud TO them to give them that model of fluency. Time for bedtime story!

A Case for Repeated Readings

Many young children who are being read to, prefer to read the same book over and over again.  If you are not living this out right now, you most likely remember how you were on your umpteenth reading of George and Martha, (or something of the like) and you would give anything for your child to pick ANYTHING else off the bookshelf for you to read.  Turns out those little tykes had something there.

"When Mama Reads to Me" - Be There Creative Works on BeThereBedtimeStories.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One strategy teachers use in classrooms from kindergarten to 12^th grade is repeated readings.  This is a research proven strategy that allows students to build reading fluency which leads to reading comprehension.  Reading fluency includes the usual suspects of reading accurately and at an appropriate rate.  But it also includes  cadence (rhythm), tone and expression.  Reading aloud is a sophisticated skill and students learn to master all these things while being read to and also being allowed to read passages or books over and over.

Having your student re-read passages allows them to eventually master all of these components of fluency.  The next time you are reading with your child, ask him/her to re-read a section.  You could even read it to them and model fluency for them.  When they re-read a passage, it gives you the opportunity to point out what they did better the second time through.  Everyone likes instant gratification and that will build their motivation to work on their reading, no matter what their level of expertise.  Try it and let me know      how it goes!