What Is Fluency and Why It’s Important to be Fluent readers ?
Fluent readers are the ones that read more smoothly and efficiently than non-fluent readers, so they are more likely to choose to read and gain more experience in vocabulary, ideas, and writing styles. Reading fluency is the capability to read accurately, at a suitable pace, with appropriate expression. Fluency is a vital skill a child should master in the first years of primary school.
Significance of Fluency
For many years, educationists have realized that reading fluency is a significant feature of reading. More than 30 years of research indicate that fluency is one of the essential elements of reading since the development of fluency is linked directly to understanding. Fluency is very important to make reading more enjoyable for you as well as for others.
Reading fluency includes at least three main elements: a precise reading of a text linked to the rhythm of a conversation with appropriate expression. Children mostly suffered at least one of these aspects of reading: they make many mistakes, read slowly, or do not read proper phrases and sentences. Readers who speak fluently will pick up and read a book themselves, even when not assigned to the class. However, the most important thing is that current reading leads to greater writing success, better vocabulary skills, and a better understanding of what is read.
Strategies for Fluency
The National Reading Panel has found data to support three strategies that enhance reading fluency,
- Teacher modeling
- Repeated reading
- Progress monitoring
Let’s have a look at these strategies in detail
Teacher Modeling
Teacher modeling is the first strategy. Research shows that different forms of modeling can improve reading skills. It is more than listening to someone read. Children’s must participate actively 100% of the time in a multisensory manner. The teacher model teaches word recognition in a meaningful context, demonstrates correct writing, and gives children’s the practice of full-page tracking. The child can benefit from this strategy once he knows a minimum of fifty words and feels good about the beginning sounds.
Repeated Reading
Repeated reading is another strategy that research has shown to improve reading skills significantly is repeated reading. It is considered one of the most powerful ways to improve reading skills. It merely involves reading the same material over and over again until it is precise and expressive. Repeated reading is a method of fluency learning. Children’s will read the same words several times and begin to recognize them and can know them in another text. In addition to helping children achieve fluency, it changes the way children’s see themselves with reading.
Progress Monitoring
A specific goal is offered to people who play video games and relevant instant feedback on their progress towards this goal. You give children a specific individual reading goal and tell them exactly how you will know they have accomplished this. Then it gives them the means to measure their condition. Finally, you make it simple enough so that they know they’ve achieved their goal before you even do it. This monitoring of progress is what motivates children’s to practice reading the same story over and over until fluency is reached.
Tips to Increase Fluency
Here are some tips for you to increase your children’s fluency
Inspire children to read to other people
Frequent reading is essential for fluency. Reading free online books for kids and listening to other people’s reading will result in better fluency. Inspire and boost children to read to other people other than parents or teachers, siblings, friends, or grandparents. In the absence of humans, the children can learn to his/her favorite toy or pet.
Follow fluency practices
Raise your voice while you read and emphasize important words or phrases and similarly lower your voice, especially at the end of the question or in a sentence that ends with an exclamation mark. When parents and teachers read aloud, they create fluency practices that their children can simulate, such as punctuation break and explicit reading. Children should be encouraged to read a variety of texts frequently.
Ask them to read bedtime stories
Bedtime stories for toddlers help them to become fluent readers while enjoying their bedtime. Bedtime stories are not just about helping your child learn to read. Fluency is defined as the ability to speak or write quickly, readily, or smoothly. Not only that, but a child who can read fluently understands what he is learning and can do it more accurately and with appropriate expression.
Teach children to segment the words
Many children’s find it difficult to read fluently because they have difficulty understanding how words are used to form new words. Teach children to segment the words into meaningful sentences explicitly. To start, you need to underline their sentences and encourage the sentences as a single phrase.
Read aloud to your child
Even if your child is old enough to read alone, it is helpful for him to hear from someone who does more reading for him. You will get a better sense of rhythm and intonation, and if you choose a variety of different types, you will appreciate all kinds of children’s books online.
Choose bedtime stories books considering your children personality
Nothing makes a child more interested in the book than knowing that the character has the same difficulties or fears as him. Choosing books that can help children find solutions to the problems they face is not only known as referral therapy to develop fluency but also deals with issues such as bullying. Different platforms are offering free online books for kids. Make sure to consider the best one.
A fluent reader not only makes the transition to a fluent writer much more comfortable than the non-fluent reader, but as children’s age, reading also plays a role in math, science, and social studies. Children who lack these fluency skills have difficulty understanding words, sentences, and context. They are also not enthusiastic. They see reading as a duty, not a treat. However, reading children’s books online will help them. Consider these tips, and you will love the results.
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