Fluency is the ability to "read connected text quickly, accurately, and with expression" (Rasplica & Cummings, 2013).
That 'with expression' part sounds fairly interpretive, doesn't it? That's one of the reasons that fluency is so interesting. Think about it: it's easy to assess speed. An adult gives a child a passage, starts a timer, and sees how long it takes. It's also fairly easy to assess accuracy. As the child reads the passage, the adult keeps track of how many words the child gets right.
But 'with expression'? That's pretty subjective. The first grader, for example, knows that exclamation points indicate enthusiasm. So, whenever he reads a sentence with an exclamation point, he shouts the last WORD! That's expression. But, it's not really the kind of expression that every exclamation point calls for. And, for quiet children, expression can be fairly nuanced; if you don't shout much when you're NOT reading, it's a pretty big ask to get shouty when you ARE reading.
Also, even though I called them 'easy', the timer and accuracy part of assessing fluency can also be problematic - a lot of children take one look at that timer and speed up, reading as fast as they can because they know they'll get a higher score if they read fast. Other children take a look at that timer and the pencil that marks errors, get nervous, and immediately start making mistakes that they don't otherwise make.
At our May LSF, author Tom Newkirk was kind enough to join us to talk about his new book*, Embarrassment: And the Emotional Underlife of Teaching. Being Tom Newkirk, he also brought up some points about the value of reading slowly (Newkirk, 2010). One point he made that I found particularly interesting: different texts call for different speeds, and true fluency is being able to match your oral reading to the text**.
So, fluency is complicated. And assessing fluency is complicated. But, according to a fourth-grader I know, identifying fluency is NOT complicated. As the fourth-grader said, "I'm trying to not sound like a robot when I read."
There are three aspects to not sounding like a robot when reading - identifying words quickly (decoding), without much mental effort (automatic processing), and being able to use intonation in response to cues like punctuation and expected phrases (prosodic reading). Some ways of engaging with texts and these three aspects are:
- Memorizing: Jokes and riddles are fabulous for this. I've heard WAYYYYYY too many jokes about animals this year, but it's worth it. And a great thing about jokes? You can't sound like a robot when you're telling them or people won't laugh at the end. Unless you're telling a joke about a robot, of course.
- Assisted Readings (Rasinski, 2004): I do this with the First Grader to read books that are a little hard for him but that he really wants to read. I'll read a sentence or two while he follows along. Then he reads the same sentence or two. Sometimes, I encourage him to mimic how I sound, but he often does that without prompting. In reading like this, the first grader develops recognition of new sight-words in context, practices inflection, and gains confidence.
- Repeated Readings: Has your child read you See Pip Point (or similar) one hundred million times? That's actually useful for decoding, automatic processing, and prosodic reading***. In classrooms, teachers might use Reader's Theater, or perform speeches, poems, or plays because practicing for a presentation encourages repeated readings (Young & Nageldinger, 2014).
Before I end, I want to say thank you to the Literacy Specialists Forum, both for sharing these articles and for the great discussion they prompted. If you're a literacy specialist, reading specialist, or other type of literacy leader in your school, please sign up for next year's forums. We'd love to have you join us! (In honor of the first grader, make sure to shout while you read the last word)
*THANK YOU, Tom Newkirk!!!
***With a caveat - if your child won't read any other books because of fear of trying new books, then it's worth helping them to switch books. But if your child is re-reading books because they're hilarious, then go for time one hundred million and one.
Newkirk, T. (2010). The case for slow reading. Educational Leadership, 67(6), 6-11.
Rasinski, T. (2004). Creating fluent readers. Educational Leadership, 61(6), 46-51.
Rasplica, C., & Cummings, K. (2013, October). Oral Reading Fluency. Retrieved from Council for Learning Disabilities: https://council-for-learning-disabilities.org/what-is-oral-reading-fluency-verbal-reading-proficiency
Young, C., & Nageldinger, J. (2014). Considering the context and texts for fluency: Performance, readers theater, and poetry. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 7(1), 47-56.
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