How to run a reading fluency routine in class: repeated reading, partner reading and fluency charts

The shape of a session

The What Works Clearinghouse practice guide describes the ingredients without fixing a schedule. Pupils practice oral reading with feedback. The adult models fluent, expressive reading, with a slow, steady pace at first, and gives feedback on phrasing and on which words to emphasize. Pupils then reread the same text several times for mastery. Here is a session assembled from those pieces. The timings are Lulio's suggestions. Parents teaching at home can use the same steps with the guide to reading fluency.

Read the text aloud while pupils follow. Pupils read it silently or in a whisper, then the group answers one or two questions to confirm they understood it. Pupils reread in pairs or alone. One rereading is timed for one minute, and each pupil records the number of words read correctly. A short debrief ends the session: what went better this time, and what to work on tomorrow. The same text can stay for several days so pupils see their number rise.

Repeated reading, partner reading and other formats

Repeated reading has the best research record. Therrien's 2004 meta-analysis covered 18 studies of children aged 5 to 18, including children with learning disabilities. The mean effect sizes were 0.75 for fluency and 0.73 for comprehension. These are averages across studies, not a promise for any single pupil. The National Reading Panel found that guided repeated oral reading had a significant and positive impact on word recognition, fluency and comprehension across a range of grade levels. The practice guide adds that rereading means children are less likely to practice incorrect word reading or to guess, and meet the same words again.

Formats vary the rereading. In partner reading, England's Reading Framework says pupils take turns reading aloud a sentence, paragraph, page or whole text. Pupils who read at the same level can share a text, or more fluent readers can read to less fluent ones, and each pupil needs to know their role, for example whether they are listening to give feedback or to follow the meaning.

The practice guide lists echo reading, alternated reading, simultaneous reading, choral reading in small groups with careful monitoring so that no one merely copies peers, and individual oral reading with a recording device, with feedback given later.

How often to practice

The practice guide says students should read connected text every day, with and without feedback. It does not name a number of minutes. Three or four short sessions a week is a reasonable starting point. That figure is a suggestion from Lulio, not one from the sources, and teachers adjust it to the class and the timetable. The practice guide also notes how to manage the time: while the teacher listens to one student or a small group, the rest of the class can do partner reading or independent reading. It adds that routines work best when the teacher has taught them carefully and runs them regularly.

The Reading Framework is blunt that there is no shortcut. For many pupils, becoming fluent takes a considerable and continuing investment of time. It also suggests extra practice in small groups for pupils who need it, and reading the same texts at home.

The one-minute timed read and the fluency chart

The standard measure is words correct per minute. In the Hasbrouck and Tindal 2017 norms, the student reads an unpracticed passage aloud for one minute and the examiner notes the errors. Subtracting the errors from the words read gives the score. For judging a level you need a new passage, and the Read Naturally rule of thumb averages two readings. A timed reread of a practiced text is a different thing: the number goes up quickly because the pupil knows the text, and it tracks that practice.

The authors say frequent checks plotted on a graph, against a goal set in advance, show whether a student is making the expected progress. Keep expectations modest. The Read Naturally version of the chart lists average weekly growth at the 50th percentile of 0.9 words in grade 3, 1.2 in grade 4 and 0.8 in grade 5. A line that rises by about a word a week on new passages is normal. The chart is for the pupil as much as for you: let them color in their own graph. Grade 3 is Year 4 in England. The guide to words per minute by grade gives the full table.

Choosing texts

The practice guide describes three levels. Pupils reading with feedback should use instructional-level text, where they read most words and miss no more than one in ten. For independent practice, easier, independent-level text is the right choice. It warns against asking pupils to read frustration-level text without feedback, because they can practice ineffective word-reading strategies. It also says some pupils in a class may use different texts for the same activity, and that more proficient readers may need text above grade level to stay challenged.

Vary the type. The practice guide wants both narrative and informational text, and wide reading alongside rereading, because wide reading exposes pupils to more vocabulary and world knowledge. A poem or a short script, practiced over several days and then performed, is a good rereading text. England's Reading Framework suggests passages from stories read aloud, a section from a history text, or a poem the whole class knows.

Differentiating by need

Work out why a pupil is slow before choosing an activity. A pupil who stalls on unfamiliar words needs word-level practice, such as the drills in the guide to rapid word reading. A pupil who decodes but reads word by word needs modeling of phrasing and rereading.

The practice guide suggests prompts such as "look for parts you know" and "sound it out," and discourages guessing. England's Reading Framework says pupils who read too slowly benefit from extra time in a small group every day.

Finishing with expressive reading

Once reading is smooth, move to expression. The practice guide asks adults to model expression and phrasing, introduce punctuation marks and explain how to read them, and reduce support as pupils read in longer phrases.

England's Reading Framework suggests that pupils prepare a short text or poem with a partner and then perform it, since rereading increases the number of words read automatically and accurately and pupils' intonation reflects their improving understanding. The guide to oral reading practice covers the exercises in more detail.