What is “fluency” when referring to a child reading? If you’ve ever asked a child to read to you and the child. Reads. The. Words. One. At. A. Time. In. A. Monotone. Voice. And then couldn’t tell you what they just read, you know what reading fluency isn’t. Fluency is reading with accuracy, rate, comprehension, and prosody, which is a fancy word for expression.

  • Accuracy involves correctly decoding words as the child reads.
  • Rate means efficiently and effortlessly, not reading as fast as possible.
  • Comprehension means reading the words and understanding the meaning.
  • Prosody is the next level of comprehension: you have to understand what you are reading to read with inflection, emotion, and punctuation pauses.

Now that we know what fluency is, how do we help our children and students develop it? Here are just a few ways (this list is far from exhaustive, it’s meant to give parents a starting point as they help children begin their reading journey):

  • Read and reread favorite books: repetition helps children decode words more quickly and accurately.
  • Family readalouds: this is a great opportunity to model fluent reading to children and it also helps children to flex their imagination muscles by picturing in their brain what is happening in the book while they listen to the story.
  • Audiobooks: listening to an audiobook while following along with the print version of the book aids in developing word recognition and expression. Listening to audiobooks can also help develop imagination like family readalouds.
  • Have children read to you! It’s a great way to connect with your child and give them practice at the same time! After your child reads, you can have a chance to talk about what the child read.

What are some good books to start with to help develop fluency? Books by Anna Dewdney, Jory John, Ryan T. Higgins and Mo Willems are a great place to start for younger readers. Neil Gaiman’s works for children should be read aloud: Fortunately, the Milk and Coraline are some of his works for the under-10 crowd that will delight readers of all ages. If the family likes fantasy, you might consider a book like The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien or The Green Ember by S.D. Smith. Other options include books on the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, which feature diverse characters and mythologies.

Feel free to ask your local librarian for other good books to engage your child (and yourself!).

- Melody Palmer, Youth Librarian, South Broken Arrow Library