Automaticity is, in short, the ability to automatically recognize (and understand) the words being read. Fluency is, essentially, the ability to read smoothly, with no or minimal need to stop and decode words. The problem many children have with comprehension is that they are spending too much time on word recognition (lacking automaticity), which directly affects fluency. When fluency is interrupted, holding the story bits in the mind is harder for the reader. In other words, if you are stopping to decode words frequently in a story book, your mental energy and focus is on the decoding, not on comprehending the plot. The same is true with any genre of text.
Increasing the rate of both automaticity and fluency will help to improve reading comprehension. They do not help with all factors of reading comprehension, such as language and background experience, but working on automaticity and fluency will go a long way toward helping reading comprehension. Parents can do the same sort of "exercises" that teachers can (and hopefully) do in the classroom to help with building up automaticity and fluency. In a way, working on them is like the calisthenics of reading comprehension.
Below are some automaticity and fluency exercises. It is recommended that the texts used for the exercises are varied and initially new to the reader. For the latter exercises, after a few sessions, even if a text is not completed, it is best to move on to another one.
- Choral Reading: The idea here is to rehearse a text, just as you would a piece of music, with a group of readers who work out pace and expression. As with any "choral" performance, the group can be divided into sections with different parts. The idea is to convey meaning and build fluency in the reading from start to finish. The practicing of the text helps improve both automaticity and fluency in a supportive environment where all finish the task as a strong reader of the text. The emphasis on conveyed meaning mitigates any weaknesses of individual readers.
- Paired Reading: Two readers sit together with the same text. They read in unison so that the single voice is strong and fluid. If the weaker reader does not know a word, he/she is hearing the word as the pair continues to read. The emphasis on teamwork mitigates the mistakes of the weaker reader, while the weaker reader has a role model to help achieve a successful reading of the text.
- Echo Reading: Two readers sit together with the same text. It is best to start with a text that is slightly easier than the reading level of the weaker reader. The first reader starts reading the text and the second starts just after, as an echo. The idea is that the weaker reader is listening to what he is about to read and so has greater fluency in reading aloud.
- Repeated Reading: The idea is to read a text only so far until three mistakes are made. Once that happens, the reader starts again, with the aim of getting further before hitting the three mistake mark. Then, a third time. The point is not to finish the story, but to rehearse the text. The repetition builds automaticity and fluency.
- Timed Reading: Choose a time limit for the exercise before starting (perhaps 3 minutes, but this depends on both age and proficiency of the reader). Using a stop watch, have the reader get through as much text as possible before the time is up. As with Repeated Reading, you repeat the exercise, starting from the beginning, twice more. The goal is to build fluency from a faster word recognition rate with the repetition.
- Radio Reading: The idea is to emphasis communication and expression over exact content. The reader reads aloud the text to an audience with the direction to use expression and emphasis to convey meaning and with the freedom to making substitutions for words that are unfamiliar to the reader in order to keep up the pace of reading.
Something to remember is that using a text is important, not necessarily using a book. Texts are any form of written word. Yes, book are likely to be the most convenient text to use with these exercises, but one key to supporting reading in struggling children, older youth, and even adults is to utilize texts with which the readers are comfortable. That might be comic books, song lyrics, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, emails, blog posts, and even forms/applications to name a few types of texts.
The other key to success is participation by the stronger reader(s) ... or ... to put it another way: modeling. Let the weaker reader be the one to start the reading, to use the timer, and to mark mistakes. Being willing to be equal partners in literacy exercises demonstrates both the importance of literacy proficiency and that learning is truly a lifelong endeavor.
