3 Ways to Boost Fluency for Elementary Students

The process of learning to read has many stages and facets which vary among individual learners. As children advance through the elementary grades and, in fact, throughout their entire lives, they will continue to develop their reading fluency. Reading Rockets defines fluency “as the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression.” Fluent readers can orally present a text in a natural and compelling manner that exhibits comprehension. Children who are working on their fluency should work with texts they are comfortable with that are within their current reading rate and instructional level. Several dimensions of fluency as well as three ways to support its growth are discussed below.

In their book, “The Six Dimensions of Fluency,” Gay Su Pinnell and Irene C. Fountas break down fluency into six accessible pieces. They are paraphrased here:

Pausing: this refers to the way short breaths and stops are used to show understanding of punctuation while reading.
Phrasing: this is the way spoken words are orally phrased in groups, which shows comprehension of text meaning.
Stress: the way stress and emphasis are placed, usually with louder tones.
Intonation: this is the manner in which tone, pitch, and volume allow the reader to further express text meaning.
Rate: the pace of reading.
Integration: the way a reader smoothly integrates the first five dimensions of fluency listed above.

Elementary school children’s fluency can be encouraged both at school and at home through the following fluency-building exercises.

Adult-Modelled Fluent Reading

Hearing fluent speech is a strong guide and motivator for elementary students. Adults in school settings and at home can read aloud to students expressively to model fluent speech. Reading from a variety of texts (stories, poems, and informative books) that are well-written, fun, and interesting to children helps them to pay attention and connect to language. In Developing Fluent Readers, Jan Hasbrouck writes that,

“Teachers and parents should also frequently model fluent reading, demonstrating (and sometimes explicitly pointing out) how accurate reading can be done at a reasonable rate and with good phrasing, intonation, and expression.”

Choral Reading

In choral reading exercises, children read along with adults. This can occur in a classroom, with several children at home, or even on-on-one. The children naturally follow the pace of the adults and so automatically gain practice in fluent speech. Children and the adult can follow through the text with a finger or marker and the adult can point out when he or she stops for punctuation or changes tone for dramatic effect.

Reader’s Theatre

Reader’s theatre is popular with young (and often older) children because it bring drama and make-believe into the reading process. Children who are participating in reader’s theatre typically hear a narrative text read aloud then practice reading all or parts of it chorally or individually, with adult support as needed. Children can then be given roles in the narrative to act out. Adults can model how voice intonation and expression vary between characters in the story and challenge the children to experiment with different reading and speaking voices. Incorporating set design and costumes boosts children’s engagement and enjoyment of reader’s theatre. Through this fun process, children learn to interpret a text rather than just repeat it.

The above exercises, as well as other literacy activities, can help children to experiment with and acquire competency in fluent speech. Fluency is both a supportive factor for and hallmark of reading comprehension. Reading Horizons explains that, “Once students can decode text at a fluent level, they are more apt to apply metacognitive strategies in order to successfully comprehend what they are reading.” Exercises that build fluency can help a child to become a better listener and reader, a clearer speaker, and to appreciate the power and versatility of the human voice.

Written by Julia Travers

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