Choose a reading passage that has been leveled for your students' grade level. Programs such as Dibels or Read Naturally supply grade level specific passages for testing reading fluency.
Time your students for one minute as they read the passage aloud. Start the time as soon as the first word is read. As your child reads, listen for errors in pronunciation, omissions or pauses for longer than 3 seconds. Each of these count as a reading error. If students add words, it is not an error.
Calculate the number of words your student reads correctly in one minute. Find the total number of words he read and subtract the number of errors to determine the reading fluency score.
Compare your student's score to the grade level benchmark to determine instructional strategies. According to the Dibels program, students in the fifth grade should be reading 104 words per minute at the beginning of the year, 115 words in the middle of the year and 124 words per minute at the end of the year. Students who fall below these benchmarks would require additional fluency instruction and testing.