As your child is learning to read, there are several skills needed in order to achieve proficiency. One of these skills is fluency. There are three main aspects to reading fluency: pace, expression, and accuracy. Reading at a reasonable pace simply means not reading too fast or too slow. Paying attention to punctuation within the text helps one to read with proper expression. Finally, reading accurately involves not having to take time to stop and decode specific words. Red Apple Reading is ready to help your kiddo become a fluent reader. Check out the following suggestions for fostering fluency in your child.
- Model Fluent Reading – One of the easiest things parents can do to help their little ones become fluent readers is also one of the most effective: read aloud to them. When we read a story to our kids they pick up on the nuances of our speech patterns and learn how expressive, properly paced reading sounds.
- Repeated and Timed Readings – It is not unusual for early elementary students’ homework assignments to include timed readings. These repeated readings of a particular passage may seem tedious to parents, but they are actually quite effective for improving pace and accuracy. You can even administer these readings yourself. Simply set a timer for one minute. Let your kiddo read the same passage aloud to you several times while keeping up with how many words she gets correct each time.
- Recording – Record your child as she reads aloud and let her listen to the recording afterwards. Most of the time children don’t realize how fast or slow they read until it is played back for them. When they are able to hear themselves, they get a better sense of their pace and expression. Check out this free voice recording app from AppShopper.
- Punctuation Practice – With this super easy intervention your kid will learn to pay attention to punctuation and improve his inflection while reading. Nicole (Rowdy in Room 300) simply writes single sight words followed by random punctuation marks and has students read the words using the appropriate inflection. That’s it! Kids will learn to notice the change in their voice with each punctuation mark.
- Partner Reading – This fluency activity comes courtesy of The Measured Mom. She suggests the use of funny poetry to improve reading fluency. Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutzky are good choices for this intervention. Parents read a line of poetry and the child repeats. The parent continues reading one line of poetry until the child can repeat it smoothly. Eventually you will be able to do two lines at a time and so on until your kiddo is reading the whole poem without too much stumbling. When kids who have trouble with fluency attempt to complete a book, it can seem slow and frustrating. A funny poem is the perfect confidence booster for struggling or new readers!
Once your child learns to read fluently he will find the reading experience to be more enjoyable and a lot less like work! If you are interested in extra reading help for your kiddo, consider signing up with Red Apple Reading. Our online reading program teaches phonics, phonemic awareness, sight words, vocabulary, fluency and reading comprehension. Your kiddo will love the games and original stories and you’ll love the results. Red Apple Reading believes in serious learning that is seriously fun! Try out our free 7 day trial today!
