Fluency

Finding the Right Book Level: PALS Equivalencies

By: Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) at the University of Virginia (2008)

Different book leveling systems each have unique ways of describing the age- and grade-level appropriateness of books. This chart provides equivalency information across six leveling systems: Basal level/PALS, Guided Reading, DRA, Rigby PM, Reading Recovery, and Lexile.

How Fluently Do Our Children Read?

By: Sheida White (2007)

Fluency means reading quickly and accurately with proper phrasing, expression, and attention to syntax (or word order). Find out what percentage of America's fourth graders read fluently in this report of a national assessment of oral reading.

Screening, Diagnosing and Progress Monitoring for Fluency

By: Jan Hasbrouck (2006)

Early and frequent screening can go a long way in preventing reading difficulties. This article includes fluency norms for grades 1-8 and details how to find and fix problems to keep kids on track for reading success. It also includes an example of how to compare fluency scores with other reading skills to design individualized interventions.

Reader's Theater: Giving Students a Reason to Read Aloud

By: Cara Bafile (2005)

The reader's theater strategy blends students' desire to perform with their need for oral reading practice. Reader's Theater offers an entertaining and engaging means of improving fluency and enhancing comprehension.

What is Guided Oral Reading?

By: Partnership for Reading (2004)

Guided oral reading is an instructional strategy that can help students improve a variety of reading skills, including fluency. This article explains how to implement it in your classroom.

English Language Learners and the Five Essential Components of Reading Instruction

By: Beth Antunez (2002)

Find out how teachers can play to the strengths and shore up the weaknesses of English Language Learners in each of the Reading First content areas.

Fluency: Instructional Guidelines and Student Activities

By: Texas Education Agency (2002)

The best strategy for developing reading fluency is to provide your students with many opportunities to read the same passage orally several times. To do this, you should first know what to have your students read. Second, you should know how to have your students read aloud repeatedly.

Questions About Fluency Instruction

By: Partnership for Reading (2001)

The following are answers to frequent questions teachers have about fluency instruction.

Fluency: An Introduction

By: Partnership for Reading (2001)

Fluency develops gradually over time and through practice. At the earliest stage of reading development, students' oral reading is slow and labored because students are just learning to "break the code" – to attach sounds to letters and to blend letter sounds into recognizable words.

What Works in Fluency Instruction

By: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2000)

Fluency, reading in a fast and fluid manner, is what often distinguishes to observers the reading performance of a good reader from a poor reader. Find out what the research says about the two most common instructional methods for developing fluency: guided oral reading and independent silent reading.

Fluent, Automatic Reading of Text

By: Learning First Alliance (2000)

Being a fluent reader is an important part of being a successful reader. Here is an overview of considerations related to fluency, and techniques teachers can use for promoting fluency in the classroom.

Two Methods for Developing Fluency

By: Bruce Murray (1999)

Beginning readers are not usually fluent, but classroom practices can help them develop this important skill. This article describes both direct and indirect methods for increasing fluency through classroom instruction.

Difficulties With Fluency

By: G. Reid Lyon (1997)

While the ability to read words accurately is a necessary skill in learning to read, the speed at which this is done becomes a critical factor in ensuring that children understand what they read.

Practice: Practical Ideas for Parents

By: Texas Education Agency (1996)

School-aged children build skills in a variety of areas to become successful readers. Learn activities parents can use at home to expand their knowledge of letter/sound relationships and skills in decoding, writing, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension of a variety of texts.

Help Children Develop Fluent, Reflective Reading

By: Ed Kame'enui, Marilyn J. Adams, and G. Reid Lyon (1996)

This list of tips provides concrete strategies teachers can use to develop fluent, reflective reading.

Skillful Readers and Poor Readers: Research and Theory

By: Marilyn J. Adams (1990)

One of the earliest efforts in the recent trend to synthesize what we know from reading research, Marilyn Adams' 1990 book, "Beginning To Read" was a landmark review of the research on phonics and reading acquisition. Read her description of what she did and what she learned as she went through the process of producing this report.