Effective teachers are continuously striving to improve their instruction. Reading Recovery teachers have detailed and specific literacy training and expertise that can be of great value to classroom teachers, especially in the area of guided reading instruction. This article explores the ways in which key Reading Recovery strategies can be…

Fluency is a critical skill of adept readers. As listening to read alouds and performing Readers Theatre scripts are two prevalent strategies that can increase students' fluency skills, this article provides suggestions in using these strategies with digital texts through free, online resources. Digital texts can be accessed using a desktop,…

Constrained skills theory is a reconceptualization of reading development that suggests a continuum of skills, with some, such as letter knowledge and decoding abilities, more tightly constrained than others, such as phonological awareness and oral reading fluency. The most constrained skills consist of a limited number of items and thus can be…

Using poetry to teach fluency through repeated reading is an effective way to improve students' reading fluency. Repeated reading of poetry is effective with students whose instructional reading level is between the first and third grades. Ten to 15 minutes of repeated reading per day over an extended length of time has proven successful for both…

Reprints a reading classic, originally published in this journal in 1979. Describes the method of repeated readings, discussing the procedure, comprehension, and theoretical rationale. Compares it with music and sports and notes how versions of this method were used in early schooling. (SR)

Discusses what oral reading fluency is and why it is important. Describes rate, recognition, and phrasing, three important aspects of fluent oral reading. Examines some methods for developing fluency including modeling, repeated reading, paired oral reading, the Oral Recitation Lesson, and choral reading. (SR)

Reading fluency has been identified as a key goal for the elementary school reading curriculum. Despite its theoretical importance in reading development and research that has demonstrated its effectiveness in improving reading performance, many teachers are not familiar with effective methods of instruction for reading fluency and ways for…

Describes how one elementary school developed and carried out the Million Minute Reading Incentive Program over the course of the 1996-97 school year to improve reading fluency in class and encourage students to read more at home. (SR)

Argues that choral reading of poetry can help children develop fluency in reading and offers some techniques and some poems for use in choral reading. (FL)

Argues that the singing-reading connective helps children learn to read and fosters a love for reading. Discusses integrating music with reading and notes various activities designed to extend the singing-reading experience, involving book concepts, sight vocabulary, reading comprehension, and fluency. (SR)

Concludes that poor readers benefit from a cooperative strategy that gives them practice toward fluency in a supportive situation. Explains how repeated reading works and offers a strategy for using it. (FL)

Describes a 10-week project in two second-grade classrooms that used daily Readers' Theatre experiences to develop children's meaningful and fluent reading. Discusses access to manageable materials, effective reading models, rereadings, instructional support and feedback, choosing the texts, and preparing. (SR)

Argues that reading rate should not be ignored, but rather seen as evidence of excessively slow processing of text, and thus as a diagnostic indicator. Describes how excessively slow, disfluent reading leads to less overall reading, to reading frustration, and is associated with poor comprehension. Describes authentic and engaging instructional…

Describes a peer tutoring program used in grades two and three of a school where the majority of children entering school do not speak English as their first language. Shows impressive gains made by the children in reading fluency, comprehension, and in spelling. Notes the program's positive effects on reading attitudes, positive social skills,…