What is reading fluency?

Reading fluency is how many words per minute your child reads.

Reading Rockets defines fluency "as the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. ... When reading aloud, fluent readers read in phrases and add intonation appropriately. Their reading is smooth and has expression." The National Reading Panel Report (2000) defines reading fluency as “…the ability to read text quickly, accurately, and with proper expression” (p. 3–5). N. Mather and Sam Goldstein (2001) maintain that reading fluency includes the speed or rate of reading, as well as the ability to read materials with expression. Fluency not only involves the ability to read at a smooth uninterrupted rate, but also with expression. Laura Chandler has developed a rubric to measure a child's expressive reading level. The student's rate of reading is measured by the number of words correct per minute. The expected rate increases for each grade level.  more

Reading fluency is one of several critical factors necessary for reading comprehension, but is often neglected in the classroom. If children read out loud with speed, accuracy, and proper expression, they are more likely to comprehend and remember the material than if they read with difficulty and in an inefficient way. Two instructional approaches have typically been used to teach reading fluency. One, guided repeated oral reading, encourages students to read passages out loud with systematic and explicit guidance and feedback from their teacher. The other, independent silent reading, encourages students to read silently on their own, inside and outside the classroom, with little guidance or feedback from their teachers.  more