Fluency and Comprehension in Early Elementary

Low reading abilities affect both reading fluency and comprehension in early elementary, says the journal article “The Effects of Reading Strategies in Comprehension for Elementary Age Learners.” With data revealing that approximately one in five students has challenges in reading acquisition, providing quality reading programs is imperative, states a Boise State University study.

Reading skills are important foundational building blocks in early elementary, and the earlier kids with low reading abilities receive interventions, the greater those interventions will have on their reading. Knowing how to read words on a page is of small value if a student can’t discern meaning from the text, the journal article says. The Boise study found, in general, that between first and third grade is when fluent reading emerges in most kids when decoding abilities are confirmed through practice.

At a presentation for a summer reading conference by The Florida Center for Reading Research, research indicates that a significant percentage of the kids are not yet accurate, fluent readers by third grade. To begin to lower these numbers, as part of its recommendations, The Center suggests that every professional within a school teach reading for 45 to 60 minutes a day.

To increase a student’s comprehension, increasing fluency is a primary way. Teachers can use different methods to build fluency. For instance, offer kids the opportunity to read and work with words in various ways, such as through debating, readers’ theater, writing and music. The journal article also suggests putting together an intensive reading intervention or organizing small reading groups three times a week, 20 minutes at a time.

Research also shows that kids who are given opportunities to read a lot both at school and at home have a higher likelihood of becoming fluent readers who comprehend what they read. Through its inspirational bilingual children’s books, Lectura Books, in particular, is addressing the needs on the home front for thousands of Latino English learners in the country.

As part of Lectura Books, The Latino Family Literacy Project is also assisting Latino ELLs through its proven, age-specific literacy programs, which is helping to inspire reading between children and parents in homes throughout the US. Through its half-day professional development training program or 1 ½ hour online webinar, the organization trains teachers in assisting parents in establishing a reading routine using books written in both Spanish and English, often aiding tremendously with fluency, comprehension, vocabulary and overall language development for the child and parents, too. For more information, please contact Lectura Books or The Latino Family Literacy Project.