Many children struggle to read fluently and accurately.  This may be because their decoding skills are not yet automatic, or there are many words which they do not know or understand, or because they have not yet mastered the automatic attention to punctuation.

Many of these reasons, come down to the need for further repeated practice in decoding and reading aloud as well as hearing texts read to them.

Here are some things which may help the children in your class:

• Practising decoding words containing the phoneme/graphemes that they know is a good start.  The Humpty Dumpty Word Walls can help with this as well as Word Chains – Swap it!.  Many children also need help with blending the sounds together in words.  The Blending Board can be useful for helping to develop this skill.

• Structuring into your daily routine The Daily Three Read for Fluency can be useful to build up a child’s confidence and fluency through repeated readings of texts that they have already been taught.  During the Daily Three Read, they read short texts silently to themselves, to someone else and they hear a reading partner read to them.  It takes around five minutes per session.

• Another great way to develop fluency in reading through repeated practice is by using Reader’s Theatre.  Children practise short plays (2 to 5 minutes in length) in groups over a number of days and then read them to their class – no props or costumes are required.  Children can also write their own very short plays to perform.

• The Speed and Fluency Cards are also useful for giving children repeated reading practice using short texts which provide quantifiable evidence of progress.

• Check on the Reading Fluency Progression to see if there are areas in which a child may require targeted support.

For more ideas, visit the Highland Literacy Road Map.