What should fluency instruction look like? That’s a question for educators and tutors whose job it is to help students become fluent readers. It’s also important when there are students whose fluency is far behind their peers. The answer depends on whether a student is a strong reader, just beginning to read, making adequate progress, or is clearly struggling. Regardless of where they’re at in terms of their reading ability, a key to fluency instruction is having access to the best reading programs for elementary schools.
Tips for Helping Students Become Fluent Readers
Reading programs for schools are critically important pillars of a child’s education. The ability to read a variety of materials accurately, at an acceptable rate, complete with the right expression and phrasing is a strong indicator of being able to understand what has been read. Fluency is only one of the key components of reading programs for elementary schools, but it is an important one. Research shows that repeated reading is a key strategy for helping students improve their fluency skills. Such repeated reading programs have two primary elements: encouraging students to read and then re-read the same text and having students practice their reading orally while getting guidance from their instructors.
Teachers and parents can also play a role by modelling fluent reading on a regular basis to demonstrate accurate reading, good phrasing, intonation, and expression. This is easily done in the classroom during reading instruction sessions. Allowing students to read out loud and mimic the teacher’s reading style is a great lesson to help them develop confidence. The best reading programs for elementary schools often include digital learning resources, such as those developed by Essential Skills to help accelerate student learning.
There are multiple different techniques that educators, teachers, and tutors can incorporate into their reading plans designed to improve fluency.
- Choral reading – teacher and students reading aloud together. This allows students to hear proper pronunciation and follow the teacher’s pace.
- Cloze reading – a technique in which words are deleted from a passage, leaving it to the student to fill in the word. This method allows teachers to keep students engaged using anticipation as a key element of the reading instruction.
- Partner reading – reading aloud to another student. This mentoring also helps students who are progressing at the same pace
Incorporate the Best Reading Programs for Elementary Schools
Essential Skills educational software includes a variety of instructional approaches that can help improve students’ reading fluency when incorporated into elementary reading programs. The software can help enhance critical aspects of reading such as increasing vocabulary and improving comprehension. Specifically, Essential Skills Vocabulary Builder and Reading Comprehension software series are designed to provide a comprehensive coverage of these critical reading skills for grades K-6 and older remedial students. Learn more about Essential Skills elementary reading programs and how they can support reading instruction in your school or classroom.