The Next Step: Fluency

I did not post back then, but in January, we received a new set of instructions from the school explaining how we should work on fluency.

The instructions explain how fluency means using the appropriate pitch, pace, phrasing and expression. The instructions explain that this kind of fluency "aids comprehension."

The sheet explains 5 different methods parents can use at home to increase reading fluency.

1. Echo reading: You read one line and the child reads the same line. Increase the number of lines at a time to 2 and so on. This should be done at least once a week.

2. Choral reading: You and your child read the same text aloud together. Choral reading should be done at least twice a week.

3. Partner reading. You read a sentence and your child read the next and so on. When the child's reading improves, you read a page and your child reads the next page and so on. This should be done at least once a week.

4. Repeated reading. Read the same book or story more than once in the same week.

As you can guess, I was busy actually teaching reading, so I chucked these instructions to the side. Frankly, in my opinion, fluency comes with actually knowing how to read. And, some of these instructions seemed to me as if they were actually a deceptive way to disguise that the books have gone beyond the child's memorized words. After all, if the parents are reading the text first, that tells the child what the words are so that the child doesn't have to figure them out. That's even so with the choral reading, because I would bet that some children will be slightly behind the parent - like when you're singing a song you don't know the words to.

And, I just love that there was an assessment at the bottom giving guidance on determining the fluency of a child's reading. For example -

Needs work - Reading is word by word, slow, and choppy, with some words missed and not enough expression to show an understanding of the text.

Finally, I really don't care if my daughter can read the three little pigs and use the wolf's voice for the wolf. I'd rather that she can actually read the words.