Reading fluency is the ability to read quickly, with accuracy and expression. When kids struggle with fluency their reading sounds choppy. Reading fluency is directly related to reading comprehension. When kids have to struggle to figure out what the text says, it’s hard for them to focus on the meaning of what they read. Read aloud, choral reading, echo reading, readers’ theater, pre-recorded text, closed captioning, sight word fluency drills, repeated readings, whisper phones, scooping phrases, reading to pets, and timed reading are twelve reading fluency activities to fix choppy reading.
1. Read aloud
Read aloud is a powerful tool for helping children develop reading fluency. Think about the last time you read to your child. What did you do?
You made the experience enjoyable by reading with expression and using voices for different characters. When a character whispered, so did your voice. You paid attention to punctuation. To make sure your listener understood what you were reading, you read at just the right pace, not too fast and not too slow. You made sure to read in phrases and not sound monotone or robotic. Whether conscious or not, you were modeling fluency.
The more you read aloud, the more your child will develop an ear for what reading should sound like. It gets engrained. The next time she reads, she’ll try to mimic the reading voice you modeled.
2. Choral reading
Choose a text to read aloud together. Make sure the text is big enough for your child to see. You can use a big book or make a copy of the text for each reader to hold. Sitting close together on the couch sharing a picture book works, too. Let your child hold the book to ensure that he can see the words and follow along as you read together.
3. Echo reading
Echo reading is just like it sounds. Read aloud a passage that your child can see and follow along with his finger. When you finish, your child echos back the passage, reading it fluently. Repeat this a few times.
If a passage is too long, try reading one sentence or phrase at a time phrase until your child can echo back longer chunks of text accurately.
4. Readers’ theater
Take a familiar text and rewrite it as a script. Print copies of the script for all the children participating. If you are doing this with just one child and your selected story has more than two characters, you’ll need to assign more than one role to each person. Highlight the parts that your child will read. Practice several times until everyone is comfortable with their scripts.
Scripts do not need to be memorized and no props or costumes are necessary in readers’ theater. The goal is for children to read their lines without stumbling over words, to have good volume and expression. When your children are ready, perform the readers’ theater for a live audience. Other siblings, parents, and grandparents will love the entertainment.
5. Pre-recorded text
Listening to audio books while following along with the text is another reading fluency activity. Your child can listen to the story the first time by following along in the book. Then he or she can practice reading along with the recording a few times to get better at reading smoothly.
You can find read-along books and CDs at your local library. A fun idea is to make your own recordings of yourself reading books from your home library.
6. Closed captioning
You won’t find this reading fluency activity in any professional journals on reading instruction, because it’s not a reading activity. But, I think it’s an idea worth sharing. In our house we turn on the closed captioning for any kids’ programs my son watches on television. I didn’t realize it made much difference until the day he spelled a word that surprised me. When I asked him how he learned the word, he said he saw it on one of his shows.
My son likes to follow along with the text at the bottom of the screen and has learned many words with this simple trick. The moving images make it harder to focus on the text, but my son still picks up words and phrases here and there. If your child watches the same episodes of a favorite show over and over again, he’ll probably notice the text more and more.
I’m not advocating for children to watch television, but if a child does watch it regularly, why not add some text and see what happens!
7. Sight word fluency drills
Sight words are those words most commonly found in the English language that fill the pages of books. If kids get a firm grasp on these words, and learn them by heart (or sight), then it dramatically improves their reading fluency.
Sight word fluency drills are found in Orton-Gillingham programs, like the PRIDE Reading Program. Using a ruler, bookmark, or fun tracker, kids read across each row of sight words as quickly as possible. You can make some of these drills on a sheet of paper. List words that your child needs to work on. Set a timer for 30-60 seconds and see how many words (s)he can read in that time. Try it again to try to improve speed.
Breath Boxes
Kids take a deep breath and try to read all the words in the box in one breath. Use high frequency word lists, like Dolch words and Fry words to fill the boxes. The boxes get progressively harder as the number of words increases, as well as their level of difficulty.
8. Repeated readings with different voices
Choose a text that’s 50-200 words. Make sure your child can decode the words. Find a text that’s not too hard and not too easy. Read the text several times. To make it fun, have your child use a different voice for each reading.
9. Whisper phone
Whisper phones, also known as fluency or phonics phones, are tools that help kids hear themselves read. Because the sound of their voice moves directly to their ear, they’re made aware of how they sound. The whisper phone eliminates distractions and helps them to focus on reading.
In the video below from Understood, you can see different types of whisper phones that are available on the market and the many ways they can help children with reading. Watch to the end of the video to see how to easily make a whisper phone using a short PVC pipe, two PVC elbows, and some decorative washi tape.
10. Scooping phrases
Choose a few sentences from a book your child is reading. Write them down on a piece of paper, skipping lines. Read a sentence, phrasing it as it should sound naturally. As you read each phrase, draw an arching line underneath from the first word in the phrase to the last. Do this for the whole sentence.
Have your child try scooping phrases with the next sentence. You can put a dot at the first and last word in each phrase if help is needed. There is not one way to phrase sentences. Think about where those slight pauses sound natural to you. Scooping phrases is a multisensory activity that helps improve natural expression.
11. Reading to a pet
Reading aloud to a pet (or stuffed animal) is an easy reading fluency activity. This is helpful if you have lots of children and don’t have time in the day to sit and listen to each child read aloud. Reading to a pet, or stuffed animal, gives your child an audience, as opposed to reading to oneself. Because of this, (s)he’ll be more apt to practice reading fluently.
12. Timed reading
Timed reading is another reading fluency activity that’s easy to do. Give your child a stopwatch and have her time how long it takes to read a passage. Record her time and let her try again to see how much she improves. Remind her not to rush. Timed reading is about reading accurately. It’s important not to stumble over words or ignore punctuation.
An alternative to using a stopwatch is the free One Minute Reader app. It’s available at the App Store. To begin, students record their first reading of a nonfiction text. Next, they listen to the same text read aloud by a fluent reader and read along. By listening and reading along, kids learn unfamiliar words and hear what natural reading sounds like. Finally, kids read the text again, multiple times. The app keeps track of fluency scores, so kids can see their progress.
It’s frustrating when our kids’ reading sounds choppy. By using these reading fluency activities at home, you will help your readers grow. They’ll feel confident in reading aloud, improve their comprehension, and make reading more enjoyable overall.
