Reading fluency is the ability to read quickly and accurately. A fluency person can understand more because they group and recognize words immediately. This immediately frees the brain to understand what is actually being read. Good reading fluency helps people learn more and excel in school or work. It’s common for people to struggle with reading fluency. However, there are specific training programs that allow an individual to increase their reading fluency.
A person who is struggling with reading fluency can experience extreme frustration when studying because they have to spend extra time trying to understand what they are reading. This can negatively impact people in a school or professional work environment. When a person struggling with reading fluency reads aloud, their reading is usually slow, choppy, and lacking in natural expression.
Aside from having difficulty reading aloud, a person who is struggling with reading fluency may also find that they are good at identifying words in a list, but cannot fluently read the same words in a sentence. It’s important that you help students move from isolated word recognition to reading fluency in context. This can be achieved with the right testing, training and practice.
The National Institute for Literacy said on its website, “Repeated and supervised oral reading improves reading fluency and overall reading performance.” This is one of the two steps examined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The second step they found for improved reading fluency is silent reading, which is done independently by students. Practice is one of the key factors in improving reading fluency.
The NAEP has also set out its definition of reading fluency. They define it as: “the ease or ‘naturalness’ of reading.”
In 1995, NAEP found that 44% of fourth graders in the United States were at the low end of the fluency scale. The study also confirmed that reading fluency and reading comprehension are directly related. Evidence shows that many American classrooms fail to teach or train students to read more fluently. This, in turn, affects students’ reading comprehension in the present and carries over into later life.
To help your child or loved one read more fluently, it is important that they take a simple reading fluency test at a quality learning training center. This test will help you understand your strengths and weaknesses on the reading fluency scale. After the test, the learning training center can put together an action plan to improve reading fluency. This includes giving your child professional reading feedback. This training process has been shown to help improve reading fluency throughout life.
Thanks to Ken Gibson | #reading #fluency #leads #reading #comprehension
