Reading Accurately to Understand (Fluency)
Why This is Important
Fluency is reading text accurately and with understanding. It is a critical skill for independent reading and comprehending text.
Goals for Strong Readers
- Understand what is read
- Accurately and automatically recognize words; and
- Use appropriate expression while reading based on the context and punctuation within a text
Quick Activity
Pick any text or book and read it aloud to your child. Model how your voice changes with punctuation or different character’s voices. (No matter his/her age, it is important for your child to hear fluent reading)
More Activities and Games
Use the Fry Sight Word List for the Sight Word Mania and Sight Word Tic-Tac-Toe activities below.
Write nine sight words in the squares of a blank tic-tac-toe grid drawn on paper. Using coins or other small objects for chips, call out sight words and have your child cover the word with a chip. When your child gets three in a row, have your child read the words out to check for accuracy and to win.
- Ask your child to read a new-to-them piece of text – a short story, poem, or several paragraphs from a chapter book.
- The first time your child reads it, time him or her from start to finish to see how long it took.
- Ask your child to read the same piece of text several more times, timing each time, to see how much your child is improving.
- Take time after to discuss the words your child read incorrectly.
Use the Fry Sight Word List to create flash cards by writing the first 100 words on squares of paper or notecards. Once your child can read the first 100 words easily and accurately, move to the second 100 words. Continue until your child can fluently read all 1,000 sight words.