Reading Fluently Does Not Mean Reading Fast via ILA

Reading Fluently Does Not Mean Reading Fast

Literacy Leadership Brief 2: 2018 ILA

Reading can be an effortless pleasure and a life changing gift, and for many lucky people, this is exactly their personal experience with the act of reading. Unfortunately, for millions of others, reading is not a positive experience.

What we have learned from decades of research is that reading is a highly complex task that involves many interconnected and codependent linguistic processes that draw upon a variety of separate skills. When these various mechanics are well established, reading happens automatically and effortlessly. One of the essential skills that must be in place for efficient reading to occur is fluency. Unfortunately, many students struggle with fluency. In addition, there is a widespread misunderstanding about both what fluency is and the role it plays in skillful reading.

Defining Fluency

What is reading fluency? Many questions surround the definition of fluency as a concept, in part because fluency has many subtle mechanics that are interdependent and therefore difficult to separate. These mechanics, or skills, work together to enable fluent reading. Most definitions of reading fluency include three observable and measurable components: accuracy, rate, and expression (sometimes referred to as prosody).

Fluency may be defined as “reasonably accurate reading, at an appropriate rate, with suitable expression, that leads to accurate and deep comprehension and motivation to read” (Hasbrouck & Glaser, 2012, p. 13). In this definition, three elements are critical: accuracy, rate, and expression. Each of these elements, therefore, must be understood in turn.

Accuracy

Accuracy is the essential foundation of reading fluency.

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For a truly fluent reader, accurate word identification and meaning happen simultaneously and instantaneously. Reading has become automatic.

Rate

Rate is often used mistakenly as a synonym for fluency. However, rate technically refers only to the speed with which students read text.

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However, reading fast is not the same as reading fluently.

Expression

Expression is a component of oral reading that includes the pitch, tone, volume, emphasis, and rhythm in speech or oral reading. Another aspect of expression is a skillful reader’s ability to “chunk” words together into appropriate phrases.

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MOVING FORWARD

• Set reasonable expectations for students’ reading accuracy, rate, and expression, taking reading level, words correct per minute, and type of text (e.g., expository, narrative, poetry) into consideration.

• Aim for students to read grade-level text aloud at around the 50th–75th percentiles, with accuracy and expression.

• Move toward having students be able to read aloud in a manner that mirrors spoken language.

• Practice reading text—carefully selected for at least 95% accuracy—through multiple reads. Pose a specific comprehension-focused purpose for each reading.

• Preview vocabulary through explicit decoding and discuss meaning. Model the reading of several sentences that use the vocabulary terms as a preview for the text, then have students practice reading the same sentences.

• Use partner reading or teacher-monitored oral reading in small groups.

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