1. Building Fluency: Lessons and Strategies for Reading Success
From
Building Fluency: Lessons and Strategies for Reading Success
By Wiley Blevins

2. A Definition
Fluency is the ability to read smoothly, easily, and readily with freedom from word recognition problems
A lack of fluency is characterized by a slow, halting pace; frequent mistakes; poor phrasing; and inadequate intonation.

3. Fluent reading is a major goal of reading instruction because decoding print accurately and effortlessly enables students to read for meaning.

4. A fluent reader can: Read at a rapid rate
(pace—the speed at which oral or silent reading occurs)
Automatically recognize words
(smoothness/accuracy—efficient decoding skills)
Phrase correctly
(prosody—the ability to read a text orally using appropriate pitch, stress, and phrasing)

5. Automaticity
Refers to knowing how to do something so well you don’t have to think about it.
For reading, refers to the ability to accurately and quickly recognize many words as whole units.
Advantage—recognizing a word as a whole unit is that words have meaning.

6. Exposure To recognize a word automatically: The average child
4-14 exposures
Struggling reader
40 or more exposures
Students need a great deal of practice reading stories at their independent reading level to develop automaticity.

7. Why do children fail to read fluently?
Lack of exposure
The good-reader syndrome
Lack of practice time
Frustration
Missing the “why” of reading

8. Ways to teach fluency
1. Model fluent reading

9. 2. Provide direct instruction and feedback
Teach sight words and phonics
Practice reading prior to reading a text
scan a text, preteach vocabulary
Time students’ reading
Include oral recitation lessons
Teach “smooshing” words together
Explain return-sweep eye movement

10. Teach about the eye-voice span
eyes are 1 to 3 words ahead of oral reading
Find alternatives to round-robin reading
Teach phrasing and intonation

11. Activity OPQ. RST! UVWX. YZ! 123. 4! 567? 89. 10!
Recite the alphabet/numbers as a conversation.
ABCD? EFG! HI? JKL. MN?
OPQ. RST! UVWX. YZ!
! 567? !

12. Recite the same sentence using different punctuation.
Dogs bark? Cows moo.
Dogs bark! Cows moo?
Dogs bark. Cows moo!

13. Practice placing the stress on different words in the same sentence.
I am tired. We are happy.

14. 3. Provide reader support
Reading aloud simultaneously with a partner or small group
Echo reading
Reader’s theater
Choral reading
Paired repeated readings
Books on tape

15. Activity
Book
You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together by Mary Ann Hoberman
ISBN
(Also, fairy tales and mother goose rhymes)

16. 4. Use repeated readings of one text.
Child reads at his instructional level
Teacher times the reading
Feedback is given on word recognition errors and the number of words per minute

17. 6. Provide easy reading materials.
Enormous amounts of individualized reading material
At least 30 minutes per day
Must be independent or instructional level