Today in our summer book study we’re talking about fluency! In the past, I taught at a Reading First school where the reading focus was on speed. Reading First wanted the students to read “fluently” and the assessment was an oral reading fluency test. If they could read 90 words a minute (second grade) they were good readers. There was a VERY small focus on comprehension but if they could word call 90 words they were considered good readers. As a teacher, of course, we know this isn’t reading. Just because they can say the words doesn’t make them readers. I love this chapter and the focus on fluency as a bridge to comprehension!!
Here are my takeaways from chapter 4!
Takeaway 1: Fluent readers read more
A non-fluent reader may only read 100,000-400,000 words a year but a fluent reader reads close to 4,000,000,000 words a year! This blew my mind. I had no idea how much of an impact fluency made on us as reader. 4 MILLION!
Takeaway 2: Fluency is speed, phrasing, expression, pacing and intonation!
Fluency isn’t just speed and the ability to read fast. It’s reading with expression and reading in phrases instead of word by word. Fluency is also about comprehension. Fluency is reading accurately but also reading words automatically and reading in phrases!
Takeaway 3: Sight Words or High Frequency Words Matter and build fluency!
I have always been a proponent of sight words because I’ve seen the impact they have on my students. Recently I’ve started seeing some pushback on sight words and how the focus should be on phonics! How about we do both?! Diller says that high frequency words are the anchor for our early readers because it gives them something that they already know! That builds confidence and allows them to focus on fluency and comprehension!
To see how we teach sight words in a research based, classroom proven way, check out Sight Word 60!
Takeaway 4: Shared Reading builds fluency!
Shared reading with big books, poems and emergent readers builds fluency! Research says that reading aloud is THE SINGLE MOST EFFECTIVE THINGS WE CAN DO TO BUILD GOOD READERS! So, it makes sense that shared reading helps with fluency in our students! For shared reading, use poetry and model how to move your eyes quickly! Use big books to show how to use emotion when reading. Use echo and choral reading to model how to read quickly and smoothly! Shared and interactive reading is a VITAL part of our morning literacy routine. I’m always proud of how fluent my students are when reading and I believe a key factor is our use of poems and sight word based emergent readers everyday!
Check out our poetry and emergent reader collections!
You can check out our morning literacy routine here!
What are your takeaways from Chapter 5 on fluency?
How do you teach sight words?
What activities/strategies do you use to teach fluency in your class?
What are your favorite read alouds to use to model fluency?
Leave your comments in the comments and join us on Facebook to share your thoughts!
And check out Abigail at Kindergarten Chaos for her thoughts on Chapter 5!
Join Our Newsletter
Subscribe to get our latest content by email.
3 comments
Chapter 5 was a good reminder of the importance of fluency. We use a system from teacher pay teacher that has worked very will for us in mastering sight words. You can actually “create” ball lists for students to master. Then, if you have those students who are ready for more, you just move them on to the next “ball list”. Our lists go up to the second grade level and usually 10 students make it to that level. Of course, the 3rd list is all that is required. Check it out on tpt! We use the usual nursery rhymes, poetry, and favorite books for whole group fluency! Love this book!
My biggest takeaways were that I need to keep teaching sight words and that reading aloud needs to be done more than 2 times a day. We do 5 sight words a week,they find sight words in the morning message and in centers. Students practice fluency by choral reading passages with me during whole group lessons, and work on it again with a partner during partner reading center. I don’t really have a favorite read aloud for fluency, I like doing nursery rhymes with them as they know some of those,
We send home sight word lists to practice at home as part of our sight word instruction. I am going to use this info and research on how important sight word acquisition is to fluency ( and therefore learning to read) in my intro to the sight word program letter. I hope it will give more parents reason to work with their kids on the sight words. I’ll also take any reason to I corporate more read aloud and shared readings into the day. Fluency is truly the stepping stones to comprehension!