How to Teach Reading Fluency to Second Grade Students

Give kids some hands-on activities to boost their reading skills.

Second grade is exciting because most children make the transition from "learning to read to reading to learn." They no longer have to concentrate exclusively on decoding and sounding out words. They have started to build a significant sight word base, and they are beginning to enjoy all the gifts that reading has to offer. Now is the time to begin helping them with their fluency so they can build on their skills even further. Simply put, fluency is the ability to read a text accurately and quickly.

Instructions

1. Have your students read and reread a passage aloud multiple times and strive each time to read it quicker and with more expression. Learning to read well is just like riding a bike--it just takes practice. Four readings are generally sufficient. At first, pick a passage or text that is slightly easy for them and then introduce harder material.

2. Model fluency for them so they can hear the inflection and expression in your voice. Read slowly and so they can compare how different the two sound. You might use a big book and point to the words and phrases as your read, emphasizing what to do with your voice when you encounter a period, comma or question mark.

3. Provide your students with varied opportunities to practice their fluency. Set up student/adult reading sessions. Record the sessions, then have the children listen to the tapes and reread the books themselves. Also try choral reading, in which students read as a group or participate in predictable repeating of passages. Poetry is an excellent activity as well. Paired reading or partner reading gives children a friend to read to and listen to. Readers' theater lets students rehearse and perform a simple play for peers. The point is to get them working hands-on with the reading material.

4. Divide the text into chunks or phrases. Students who read with fluency have better reading comprehension when they learn a little at a time. With lots of oral and silent reading practice, they'll read words less in isolation.

5. Provide students with several ways to learn basic sight words. Sight words make up a large percentage of the language. Students can practice these from lists and flashcards so they learn to recognize the words automatically.

6. Monitor progress informally and formally. Informal assessment is simply listening to students and determining whether they are progressing. Formal assessment can be done by taking timed samples of the child's reading and counting words read correctly.

Tips & Warnings

• One difference between poor and fluent readers is the amount of time they spend reading daily. Encourage parents and family members to read aloud to students. The more models of fluent reading they hear, the better.

• Remember that fluency changes depending on what readers are reading. Even skilled readers may read in a slow, labored manner when words are unfamiliar and the text is difficult.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Pacific Resources for Education and Learning: Assessing Reading Fluency
• Time4Learning: Fluency & Learning to Read