My last article began discussing the importance of reading fluency. In this article I will address some ways in which teachers and parents can increase the reading fluency of children.
Thus far research has uncovered two major approaches to reading fluency. The two are described below.
Repeated and monitored oral reading approach increases reading fluency and overall reading success. In this approach students are guided in reading and rereading text. They are given discussion and feedback about their reading. The reading should be carried out orally. Students who use repeated oral reading have shown great gains in recognizing words, the speed of their reading, the accuracy of calling words, and their fluency.
Many teachers use the “round robin” approach to oral reading. However this approach is not considered to be repetitive reading. Students do not show as great of a success with “round robin” reading. During this type of reading students typically only read a small passage of text and the reading is not repeated several times.
It has been found that students do better if they read the passage until the desired fluency is reached. This is typically four times for the average student.
Success can also be reached by using taped readings, tutor readings, peer readings, and other strategies.
However, no research thus far has proven that classroom instruction time spent on silent reading to oneself where little or no feedback is given improves reading achievement at all.
While some students do enjoy independent silent reading and it can be sued as a good “down time”, this approach should not be used as a means of reading instruction. There should be reading instruction class time in addition to the silent reading time that is allowed. Even older children need reading instruction time.
Having your child read aloud to you at home is also a way that parents can improve reading fluency.