What are the components of fluency for middle school students?

While the term fluency in elementary years often focuses on the rapid decoding of words in and out of context, the component is more complicated in older students. When we speak about fluency in the upper grades, we mean:

How do you know what older struggling readers need?

If you read this blog post discussing students who need decoding skills, then you’ve seen the chart that helps you decide whether to initially target word solving or comprehension strategies. But what about fluency? How do you know if an older student needs support in developing fluency?

Fluency is the missing piece of the reading puzzle for many older students. They can decode, but they cannot do it automatically and accurately enough to comprehend text.

Elaine K. McEwan

So how can you tell if a student is making fluency errors?

While the answer is simple – you must listen to them read aloud – the implementation is more difficult. This is one of the most difficult things for older students to do, especially if they feel ashamed in any way. Most adolescent readers will go to great lengths to avoid reading aloud.

This five step method has worked for me:

1. Build relationships and understanding of purpose.
2. Give the student a voice and a chance to feel more comfortable.
3. Introduce the idea of reading aloud for the assessment and reassure the student.
4. Conduct the assessment.
5. Finish with relationship-building talk.

Here are the steps in more detail:

What do you use to assess fluency?

There are many text choices when it comes to assessing fluency. If your students are grades 6-8 in Texas, you are probably familiar with the TMSFA. Even if you are not in Texas, you can download and use the free materials on this site. It also includes passages for progress monitoring. If you work with older students or you prefer not to use those materials, use a piece of text typical for your grade level. (Note: TMSFA was developed by The University of Texas under a grant. That grant has expired, so the materials located on that backlink may be removed soon!)

Here are additional sites to access texts:

Note: Many of these passages use Lexile levels to assign a reading level. Click here to read more on Lexile levels.

What reading program do you use to build this skill?

If you’ve been following HuddleTeach for any amount of time, you already know that there is no purchased program – just teachers working with students. When older students struggle, they need instruction from a competent, caring teacher.

Of course computer programs that focus on fluency exist. Unfortunately, these programs tend to focus on reading rate, or speed. After all, teaching expression would be difficult on a computer! Middle school students need much more than speed training, though.

How do you begin with basic fluency skills?

First, to convince students to buy-in to this type of instruction, use the swing back instructional sequence described in this blog post.

The beginning fluency swing back lessons are a bridge from decoding and word solving practice. Left-to-right eye movement is part of the discussion around solving long words. Next, students read sets of common phrases to build automaticity. From that point, students work through full passages. After lessons on noticing and honoring punctuation, students are responsible for adding in the punctuation. Discussion moves to adjusting reading rates by tasks and adding expression, then to practicing all the components of fluency.

How long should these fluency lessons be?

With all swing back lessons – decoding and fluency – my goal is 20 minutes. This gives plenty of time for a mini lesson and guided practice. The practice time for each skill is longer and cyclical, full of multi-sensory activities. During practice, students must be reminded to attend to fluency as they read, even during silent reading.

How long do you keep up these kinds of lessons?

These eight lessons take a few weeks of small-group instruction time. As always, be careful not to over-support a skill. As soon as students understand what is expected in terms of fluency, enforce the expectations. Be sure to remain positive and encouraging as the difficulty of text increases.

Where can you find fluency materials for older struggling readers?

It is always a struggle to find materials for older struggling readers, and we often have to adapt materials for younger students. We hope the materials we’ve created help you move your students from striving readers to thriving readers!

Please visit HuddleTeach Products or the TPT store for a growing list of products that help your students improve their fluency!