Is your child having trouble reading at the same speed as their peers? Is their teacher reporting they are below the reading benchmark? Once a student has learned all of the rules of reading, then we can target reading fluency. Check out these reading fluency tips and activities to help your child increase their speed!
Inhale…Exhale
It’s very important that your child is relaxed, especially when working on their reading speed. Tell them to get the wiggles out, relax their body, and take a few deep breaths. When they are relaxed, they are more likely to sustain reading through a sentence or paragraph instead of sounding choppy. We want students to read fluidly without stopping or repeating words!
Echo Read
Help your child incorporate reading sight words into their vocabulary through echo reading. First, read a sentence aloud to them and have them read it back to you. As your child becomes fluent at reading a sentence back to you, increase the number of sentences they echo read.
Please note: model good expression and tone, as this is what the child will repeat back to you.
Repeated Readings
Challenge your child to beat their own reading time through repeated readings of the same passage. Choose (or, have your child choose) a short paragraph appropriate for their current reading ability or level. Record your child reading the passage the first time. Then, ask your child to read the passage several times until he is able to read it fluently. (You can relate this to athletes practicing the same movements until they develop speed and effortlessness.) Last, record your child during a final reading of the passage. Listen to the difference between the two readings and celebrate the progress!
Metronome Reading
Set a timer and ask your child to read for one minute. When the timer goes off, set a metronome to the number of words read in one minute. For example, if a student read 70 words per minute, you would set the metronome to 70 beats per minute. Ask your child to read one word for each beat on the metronome. Once they get used to this, increase the number of beats per minute on the metronome. Do this 2-3 times until they are able to read the passage at an increased rate!
Check out this great metronome application!
Punctuation
When reading, ask the student to tap on their lap or table when they get to periods or commas. This will help them acknowledge the punctuation in a passage and will help with their phrasing and expression.
Tracking Activities
The ABC and line tracking activities increase precision coursing from line to line. It is important that your child does not move their head when completing these activities – this is an activity just for their eyes!
- For abc tracking, have your child put the felt square beside the paper on the same side of their dominant hand. The felt piece will act as a ‘home base’ to rest their hand so they do not use the pencil or fingers to track. Start at the top of one of the paragraphs and circle each letter starting with “a,” then “b” then “c” and moving in alphabetical sequence all the way to z.
- For line tracking, have your child start at the top of any paragraph and state the first letter of the first word in the line and the last letter in the line. Then go to row two and say the first and last letters of that line, and so on. Move as quickly as possible from line to line. Check out this blog for more details and materials!
Reading Rate Support for North Liberty & Des Moines With Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center
At Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center we know that supporting your child with their reading rate skills can be challenging. These activities are just a few ways to help your student increase their rate of reading in a fun way. If you are concerned that your child could use more reading support, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team!
info@enrichmenttherapies.com
740 Community Drive, Unit A
North Liberty, IA 52317
319-626-2553
infodm@enrichmenttherapies.com
5530 West Pkwy, Suite 300
Johnston, IA 50131
515-419-4270
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