Once students master the basics of reading
(phonics, blends, whole words, full sentences), they start developing
fluency, or the ability to read easily and with expression. Fluency is what
allows readers to read a sentence without stumbling over words, while still
being able to understand what they're reading along the way. But reading
fluency can be elusive for some young readers.
By the end of second grade, your child should be
able to read with expression, pausing for periods, adding inflection in
sentences that end in question marks or exclamation points, and reading voice
and emotion into the characters in stories.
Into third grade and beyond, fluency is what helps children read and learn at
the same time. But according to Dr. Marilyn Jager Adams, research professor at
Brown University and author of Beginning to Read, “...the majority of
fourth graders haven’t developed fluency and have to think about every
word...,” so they’re not able to understand what they read.
Want to figure out if your child is a fluent reader? Ricki Linksman, director
of the National Reading Diagnostics Institute and author of Solving Your
Child’s Reading Problem, recommends doing a reading check-up. Ask
your child to read aloud from a few books or magazines—a novel or chapter book,
his class science or social studies textbook, or a favorite magazine. After
he’s finished reading, ask him questions about what he read. If he struggles to
read individual words, or isn’t able to understand what he read, help develop
his fluency with these strategies:
Choose High-Success Books
"Kids should be reading with 99 percent
accuracy," says Dr. Richard Allington, professor of education at the
University of Tennessee, "or, they should only miss one word for every 100
they read." When you’re choosing a book with your child, have him read a
page or two and hold up a finger for every word that he has trouble reading. If
he’s holding up more than one finger, the book is too hard.
Take Turns: Shared Reading
Read books with lots of dialogue (for young
readers, try The Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems), or take
turns reading paragraphs or pages in books that are at your child’s reading
level. "During shared reading," says Adams, "you’re helping your
child understand the story and modeling fluent reading, while she is practicing
recognizing words and spelling patterns."
Let Them Be the Librarian
Let your child choose what she reads—any print,
including words on a web site or words on a recipe card, activates the reading
centers in the brain and will strengthen her reading fluency. If your child
wants to read a book that’s outside her comfort level, read it together, says
Adams.
Practice “Deep Reading”
For some of your child’s reading practice, focus
on what Dr. Timothy Rasinski, professor of reading at Kent State University and
author of The Fluent Reader, calls deep reading, or reading the same
material over and over. Make deep reading authentic by adding an audience.
Bring poetry or play books home and have your child read his favorite poems or
act out her favorite plays to you, her grandparents, and family friends.
Put Words to Music
Print song lyrics for your child to read along to
their favorite songs, or encourage him to follow along with the songbook at
your religious organization.
Add Audio
When your child chooses a book, get the audio
recording as well. Have her read along with the audio recording until she can
read the story independently. Or, make the audio yourself; Allington suggests
recording your child reading a passage over and over so she can hear the improvement
as she reads faster and with more expression.
Come Back to Correct
When you read with your child, don’t stop to
correct words that he struggles with or misreads. If you interrupt every time
he makes a mistake, he’ll listen for your correction, instead of listening for
meaning. Write down any words he misses and return to them once he’s finished
the chapter or story. Ask him if the word made sense when he read it and, if he
can reread it correctly, great. If not, help him figure it out.
Pick a Topic
If you have an older child who’s struggling with
fluency, she probably feels like she’s missed learning information because she
can’t get it from books. So, let her choose a topic she’s interested in, then
find books at different levels that are all about that topic. The difficult,
technical terms (the names of the dinosaurs, or engineering terms) are the
words she’ll pick up quickly, so as she reads she’ll be practicing word
patterns and sentence structure.
Every time you read with your child it’s an
opportunity to develop fluency, as well as a love of reading. So, when you sit
down, no matter whose turn it is to read, make sure the book is one that your
child won’t want to put down!
Consider Additional Help
Pinecone Active Learning provides an inviting and
safe environment in which little readers can practice and master important
reading concepts with careful guidance. The reading program covers all
the basics from beginning letter sounds for the pre-readers, through reading
comprehension, vocabulary development and grammar for the continuing
students. The grammar and vocabulary portions have also been shown to
greatly improve writing skills of Pinecone students.
