Now that we have covered intervention ideas for basic reading skills such as phonological awareness and phonics, we are going to move onto the next area of reading: reading fluency.

Reading Fluency

Reading fluency refers to the ability to read text accurately and at an appropriate rate. Fluent readers are able to read orally with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. Reading fluency is important because it allows students to more easily derive meaning from text.

Reading Fluency Interventions

When choosing a reading fluency strategy, it is important to remember that the goal is for students to become better able to read with appropriate rate, accuracy, and expression. This means that we want to choose texts that students are able to decode, but not read fluently. We also want to ensure that students are getting immediate feedback about their skills throughout the intervention period. Students will need frequent practice with fluency. Several reading fluency interventions include: repeated reading, paired reading, and listening while reading.

Repeated Reading

During repeated reading, a student reads a short passage aloud to the teacher. If the student is unable to read a word correctly, the teacher provides the word, and the student repeats it. The student reread the passage at least three times until they are able to read it fluently.

Paired Reading

In paired reading, the teacher pairs the student with someone with similar or higher reading fluency skills. The students then read aloud to each other, taking turns reading by sentence, paragraph, or page as appropriate.

Listening While Reading

With this approach, a student works with a teacher. The student follows along while the teacher reads the passage aloud. The student then reads the passage aloud to the teacher who provides corrective feedback as needed.

The University of Oregon provides helpful information about reading fluency theory and practice. The Florida Center for Reading Research also shares research-based fluency resources. Understanding, Assessing, and Intervening on Reading Problems by Dr. Laurice Joseph is another quality resource that provides helpful information on reading fluency strategies to educators.

Next week, we will discuss the final area that students can qualify for special education under in reading: reading comprehension. Please join us as we cover how to address reading vocabulary and reading comprehension needs.