Reading Like a Grown-Up (Fluency)

Fluency means how you sound when you are reading. Does it sound like you are a good reader? Are you pausing at all the right places and making it sound like you are reading the way a grown up would read? There are four important mistakes that sixth graders commonly make when they are reading that makes them sound not very fluent. So here are the rules to fix those mistakes.

1.   Periods. Stop at periods, and make it sound like you meant to stop. You knew the period was there, you got to it, you made your voice go down like it should and you came to a stop. You weren’t surprised, and you didn’t roll over the top of it as if it wasn’t even there.

2.   Commas. Stop at commas, but make it sound like you plan to keep going. Your voice kind of goes up, like you aren’t finished. You stopped, but don’t worry, you’re going to continue in just a second.

3.   Italics. When you get to a slanty word, or a word in italics, you say that word louder, or with more emphasis or energy.

a.    Mom is the new store owner?

b.   Mom is the new store owner?

c.    Mom is the new store owner?

d.   Mom is the new store owner?

e.    Mom is the new store owner?

f.     Mom is the new store owner?

4.   Most important rule of all: When you make a mistake, correct it immediately. I’m not going to tell you to stop making mistakes. That is almost impossible. But when you make a mistake, you must correct it immediately. “The town was devastated when a tomato came crashing through?” No. “The town was devastated when a tornado came crashing through.” If you said tomato instead of tornado, that doesn’t work! You must correct it immediately. That’s what good readers and all adults do. When they make a mistake, they correct it immediately. If you say tomato instead of tornado and you don’t correct it, everybody’s wondering why you didn’t correct it! We don’t care if you make a mistake as long as you correct it immediately.