Reading Fluency

"Fluency is the bridge between phonics and comprehension."

"So it is with children who learn to read fluently and well: they begin to take flight into whole new worlds as effortlessly as young birds take to the sky."

What is 'reading fluency'?

Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately, quickly and with expression. Reading fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

EEF Literacy

Reading aloud, accurately and at a reasonable pace, are important aspects of the reading process. Once readers no longer need to decode individual sounds in words, word reading becomes automatic, freeing up mental bandwidth (amount of cognitive resources/space available to complete tasks) allowing readers to focus on the meaning of language, pace and the expression of their voice.

Quality First Teaching

We use different teaching approaches to support development of reading fluency. These include:

• Modelled reading
• repeated readings
• surveying the text
• echo reading
• choral reading
• reading in role
• One minute reads

Interventions

Some children may require some additional support with developing their reading fluency. Children will be selected for interventions and may work in small group to 1 to 1 sessions using a variety of texts including poetry.