Throughout the school year, first grade students have enjoyed having books read aloud to them by fifth grade students.  We begin our day, most Wednesdays, with a fifth grade guest reader.   Through this exchange, first graders have the opportunity to observe as fifth graders practice reading to an audience, modeling fluency and expression.

Reading fluency is one of the five components of reading addressed in first grade at The Summit.  It is the ability to read text accurately, smoothly, and expressively.  We often refer to this as “reading like you are talking.”  As students progress in their reading abilities, we look for increased reading fluency and higher word recognition skills, enabling students to move from decoding individual words to reading phrases and lines of text.  In doing so, students spend less mental energy deciphering text, allowing them to spend more mental energy comprehending or understanding what they are reading.

The best way for students to build reading fluency is through practice.  First grade students are encouraged to read at home each night for 15 to 20 minutes.