Stop the robotic reading: 5 strategies to promote fluency - MeQuel Bolden...

This session was presented by MeQuel Bolden. Our session began with MeQuel reminding us that we've all seen students racing through a text like they’re trying to win a drag race, blurring words together just to hit a high 'Words Per Minute' target. Reading fast is not reading fluently. When we treat reading like a speed sport, we do our students a massive disservice. True fluency isn't about beating a stopwatch; it’s about creating a bridge to comprehension. We need to unpack what reading fluency actually is, and look at how we can explicitly build this crucial skill in our classrooms.

To get to fluency, students need to be explicitly taught.

• Phonemic Awareness: The ability to isolate and segment individual sounds in spoken words.

• Decoding: Cracking the alphabetic code to turn print into speech.

• Vocabulary: Knowing what the words actually mean.

• Automaticity: Instant, effortless word recognition.

When a reader has these skills, they build sight word recognition and retain words in their long-term memory. Why does this matter? It comes down to brain power. Fluent readers have the cognitive space to think about the text and its purpose. Non-fluent readers spend 100% of their mental energy just working out the words. For them, unpacking meaning is a bridge too far. Because of timed assessments, deep misconceptions have crawled into modern reading instruction. 

• Myth 1: Fluency means reading fast. * Reality: If you read too fast or too slow, meaning is lost. Think of a powerful quote read too fast, it loses its punch; read at a just right pace, it carries expression, power, and emotion. Fluency is more than speed. Refer to the activity below on how to do this.

                                     

• Myth 2: Fluency is age-related. * Reality: It doesn't just "develop" as kids get older. If the skills aren't there, a high schooler will struggle just as much as a Year 3 student. Fluency is needed across the entire curriculum, not just in English or literacy time.

• Myth 3: More independent reading time fixes it. * Reality: Simply telling a struggling reader to "go and read a book" won't fix a broken control panel. We must use diagnostic assessments (like phonemic awareness tests) to see exactly where the breakdown is happening, and then teach the missing skills explicitly.

Old Skool Instructional Steps (That Still Work!)

Building fluent readers requires a predictable, scaffolded routine. These classic programming steps provide the ultimate safety net for learners:

1. Modelling: Students must see and hear what fluent reading looks and sounds like.

2. Assisted Support: Scaffolding the reading so skills can safely evolve.

3. Echo Reading: The teacher reads a line, and the students echo it back. Because they just heard what it should sound like, they are highly motivated to try.

4. Choral Reading: The whole class reads together. This acts as a beautiful safety net for struggling readers to practise without fear of being singled out.

5. Wide Reading: Exposing students to a variety of text structures to build background knowledge and vocabulary.

6. Repeated Reading: Reading a text more than once. To be effective, it must include feedback—whether from a teacher, a peer, or self-feedback via an audio recording.

7. Rhythm and Phrasing: Teaching students to scoop words together for flow, responding to punctuation, and channelling character personalities. Prosody is expression; if a student ignores punctuation, meaning is lost.

We can upgrade our practice by focusing on five key elements:

• Quality of Text: Does the text support the purpose? Is it worth reading over and over, or is it too easy?

• Oral Reading: Opportunities to read aloud are an absolute must!

• Feedback: Teach students that feedback is not criticism—it's coaching. Use rubrics so teachers, peers, or the students themselves can measure growth.

• Repetition (Without Boredom): To keep repeated reading fresh, give students a different focus each time they read the same text (e.g., “This time, focus entirely on how the punctuation changes your voice.”).

• Engagement: Involve students by letting them set their own fluency goals.

Every student will need their own photocopy of the text to annotate.

• Step 1: Prep the Text. Unpack tricky vocabulary and activate prior knowledge.

• Step 2: Teacher Intro. The teacher reads aloud. Students listen and follow along with their eyes.

• Step 3: Clear the Hurdle. Open the floor for questions: “Any tricky words? Anyone need anything explained?”

• Step 4: Choral Read. Read the text together. Give group feedback on the class effort. (Keep engagement high through trust—never single a student out).

• Step 5: The Monday/Friday Check. Have students record their reading on Monday, and record it again on Friday using a tool like the totem camera. The growth they hear will blow their minds.

Every classroom has porcupines or prickly, struggling students who find reading frustrating and push back against instruction. They struggle to connect with the expected norm, but they shine brilliantly in the areas where they do connect. Our job isn't to flatten their quills, it’s to build their creative muscles and hug them. Imagination in reading is nothing less than exploring someone else’s daydreams. When we build trust, elevate our reflection time, and keep going without giving up, even our most reluctant readers will find their voice. Fluency takes time and needs the skills needed to be taught explicitly. 

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