Reading Fluencyby Lyn Newton | More from this Blogger 14 Sep 2007 12:02 PM Most parents are ecstatic when their child learns to read. Learning to read is a major milestone in a child's academic career. Many feel that reading consist of saying written words. However there is much more to reading than recalling words in a book or on a paper. There are many different levels of reading that teachers teach. Just because a child can call words off of paper does not mean that he/she is a good reader. One aspect of reading that teachers should focus on is fluency. Fluency is how well a person reads. A good, fluent reader can smoothly call words with express and feeling. Some believe that fluency comes with age. However, fluency can be taught to young children. A child can actually begin to learn fluency before he/she begins to read. Fluency is taught by hearing fluent readers read. Fluency is taught by mimicking fluent readers. Fluency is taught by repetitious reading. Children as early as preschool and kindergarten can begin to learn fluency through echo and choral reading. During echo reading, the teacher reads a passage and the students will repeat the teacher. It is truly amazing how the children will echo the teacher's expression. The students in my class will imitate voices and various tones that I use while reading. After students have mastered echo reading, choral reading can be carried out. During choral reading the teacher and the students read simultaneously. Some parents feel it pointless to read a book or passage over and over again. However, repetitious reading helps children develop fluency. Many children love to repeat a favorite song, book, or poem many times. The more familiar the child is with a passage, the more fluently he/she can read or say it. Many times a child will fluently read a nursery rhyme or poem without actually identifying the words. The reading is coming from memorization. However, the child should be praised for the express and smoothness that comes with the reciting. When reading a story to your child, be aware of the various voice tones and expressions that you use. Allow your child to hear the variations and the tone of the story. More About Reading Four Blocks Guided ReadingFour Blocks Self-Selected Reading Learn more about Lyn Newton  Lyn is a kindergarten teacher and mommy to a girl and a boy. In her spare time, she enjoys informative and creative writing. Relevanteducation tags User Comments diddlydoo (6) 18 Aug 2009 08:55 AMThis is a great article on fluency. In my experience as a 4th grade teacher I sometimes see children who have good reading comprehension struggle in school because they have trouble completing the assignements in time. Because they are very slow readers. They need fluency help. Some kids develop fluency all on their own. But others need practice, just as Lynn mentions above. Ideas for fluency practice (and some are already given here by Lynn) are included in my link here . . . http://www.ehow.com/how_5289238_child-quick-guide-building-fluency.html Community Tags fluency, reading, teaching reading Discuss this article
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