Strategies for Improving Fluency

Teaching Tips to Help Students Read Fluently

Feb 6, 2009 Jennifer Wagaman

By improving fluency, teachers will be able to improve students' reading skills across the board.

Fluency is the ability to speak, read or write smoothly and easily. A person who speaks a second language may be described as a fluent Spanish speaker, for example. It is important to help students become fluent in reading, as improving fluency will improve reading comprehension and student confidence.

Average Fluency Rates

Typical fluency rates vary for each grade level and are different for silent and oral reading. In order to figure out a child's reading rate, or number of words read per minute, multiply the total number of words in a passage by 60 (the number of seconds in a minute), and divide that answer by the total number of seconds it took for the student to read the passage. Average WPM are as follows:

Oral Words Per Minute Reading Rate:

First Grade: 31-87
Second Grade: 52-102
Third Grade: 85-139
Fourth Grade: 78-124
Sixth Grade: 113-165

Silent Words Per Minute Reading Rate:

Second Grade: 58-122
Third Grade 96-168
Fourth Grade: 107-175
Sixth Grade: 113-165
7-8th Grade: 73-370
9-12 Grade: 65-334

[Leslie and Caldwell, 2001]

Strategies to Improve Reading Fluency

There are several ways teachers can help a student improve reading fluency. If a child reads very little, their reading fluency will be slower than the student who reads a lot, so encourage students to read frequently. In addition, students should have opportunity to re-read familiar texts. Encourage children to "read it like they would say it", and discourage the use of a finger to keep place on the page.

If student get lost while reading, have him use an index card under the line. If the student's reading still sounds choppy, have him practice reading Fry's word phrases to teach them proper phrasing, and improve sight recognition of common words. Students should also try to keep their eyes one word ahead of their mouths to know what word is coming up next.

Teach strategies for how to read through a page even when stuck on a word or distracted by the pictures. Prompt a student to look at the picture before reading the words, and take another look at the picture after reading the words. When the child gets stuck on a difficult word, have him stop, take a breath, and continue by sounding the word out.

Spending time to improve reading fluency will prove useful for any teacher. Giving daily reading assignments for homework will encourage students to read at home. In addition, teachers should provide ample independent reading time during the school day. Teachers should also read aloud to the class, to demonstrate what a good reader sounds like.

Learn more tips for teaching reading. You may also be interested in additional tips for improving reading comprehension and fluency, as well as how to teach students who have a reading disability.

Source:

Leslie, Lauren and Caldwell, JoAnne . Qualitative Reading Inventory – 3. Toronto: Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc. 2001.

The copyright of the article Strategies for Improving Fluency in New Teacher Support is owned by Jennifer Wagaman. Permission to republish Strategies for Improving Fluency in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Teach Students to Read Fluently