Why fluency matters
Reading fluency is a reader’s ability to read text with accuracy, speed, and expression. When fluent readers read, they first read the words (surface level), and secondly derive meaning from the text (deeper level). Reading fluency consists of three pillars:
- Accuracy: The ability to read with few errors
- Speed: The rate at which a reader reads
- Prosody: The ability to read aloud with proper intonation, phrasing, and expression
Fluent readers apply skills and knowledge of words with automaticity. A fluent reader displays specific characteristics including:
- Strong phonics and phonological awareness that allow them to decode with high accuracy
- Reading at an efficient speed without stumbling over individual words
- Creating a rhythmic flow using appropriate expression and inflection
- Comprehension by connecting words and their meanings
Each characteristic is important to be a fluent reader, but no single skill is enough on its own. Fluency requires that skills be automatic and second nature, and identifying areas where learners struggle is key to targeting and teaching fluency skills.
Phonics and phonemic (or phonological) awareness are key components for reading fluency. Readers who quickly decode and identify words are able to focus on the meaning of the text rather than decoding. These key skills indicate the accuracy at which readers decode and read. When learners read, they apply the following skills:
- Phonics: An understanding of the relationship between letters and their associated sounds and the ability to decode or sound out words
- Phonemic (or phonological) awareness: The ability to recognize and understand spoken words
When learners struggle with phonological awareness, it affects their ability to be quick and accurate readers. Accuracy indicates that a reader is applying decoding skills quickly and efficiently and is focused on deriving meaning rather than decoding text. Along with accuracy, they also exhibit speed. Readers who aren’t accurately applying phonological awareness skills read at a lower speed with choppy prosody.
Readers who struggle with phonological awareness frequently make errors when reading. These errors help to identify areas where readers don’t yet have automaticity. The most common errors readers make are:
- Substitutions: Reading a word that isn’t in the text
- Omissions: Leaving out words
- Insertions: Inserting words that aren’t in the text
Another consideration is when learners repeat words or phrases or make self-corrections while reading. Repetitions indicate that the reader is trying to decode or find the meaning of the text while reading. The reader either stops the flow (prosody) while reading or repeats words for decoding. Self-corrections indicate that the reader is aware an error was made and corrects the error while reading. When a reader self-corrects, the prosody of their voice stays consistent. Both are important to note when readers are working with text.
Reading Progress is a tool in Microsoft Teams that supports educators in providing oral reading practice with powerful error analysis tools to support reader fluency. It’s available in over 100 languages and tracks all three components of reading fluency. To extend independent practice opportunities and build scaffolds for learners, educators can add Reading Coach to any Reading Progress assignment. Reading Coach builds on Reading Progress by identifying five words that individual learners struggled with most and presenting them with tools to support reading via independent practice. Reading Progress and Reading Coach empower all types of learners to work at their own pace in a secure and encouraging environment and helps educators provide just-in-time support.