Harrison Elementary School

Strategies To Improve Reading Fluency

What is Fluency?

Reading like you are telling a story to someone; reading smoothly, using expression, phrasing, and intonation to show meaning and understanding of the text.

ReReads Select a favorite book and read it aloud two or three times.

Echo read.  Ask an adult read a phrase, sentence, or paragraph aloud to model fluent reading. Then you read the same phrase, sentence, or paragraph afterwards, like an echo. It's like "Repeat after me." Continue this pattern until you have read a book, story, or page of text together.

Recorded read. These are tons of fun! Pick a book, practice reading it a few times, and record yourself on a tablet, iPhone, iPad, tape recorder or computer. Then listen to it and practice again to get an even better recording. 

Poetry! Read a poem a few times in many different ways, for example read quickly, sing songy, or with a pretend accent. 

Listen to an adult read. Ask an adult to use expression in their reading such as funny voices for dialogue  or raising and lowering the pitch and tone of their voice to match what is happening in the story.