Fluency Practice
Fluency is a key foundational skill that helps students read complex text with greater understanding. When students read with accuracy and expression at an appropriate reading rate, their fluency supports their comprehension. Repeated reading practice with short passages improves word recognition and automaticity.
Materials
Procedure
Administer a one-minute reading, starting the stopwatch when the student begins the first word of the passage (student will not read titles). Tell the student that if she or he has trouble (struggling for more than 3 to 5 seconds), you will say the word so she or he can keep reading. After one minute, say "Stop," stop the stopwatch, and circle the last word read. During the reading, resist the urge to correct mistakes that do not hold up the student's time.
Follow along word by word with your pencil. Slash ( / ) through any words the student misses. Errors include:
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Skipped words
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Mispronounced words
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Word substitutions, including incorrect forms of the word
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Words in the wrong order; both or all words are counted as wrong
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Struggling that lasts for 3 to 5 seconds or more
The following are not considered errors:
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Added words
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Varying pronunciation due to accent, dialect, or speech impediment
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Repetitions in which the wording is correct
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If a student self-corrects a mistake, the word is scored as correct.
Scoring
Count the total words in the student's reading using the words-per-line totals listed in the margin. Then, count the number of errors (slashes). Subtract the number of errors from the total number of words read to find the number of correct words per minute (cwpm). Goal of 126+ cwpm.
Graph the correct words per minute read.