Fluency actually begins when children learn pre-reading skills. These include concepts of print awareness and simple comprehension strategies. Concepts of print are elements of texts that children need to understand before they read, like correct book positioning and left-to-right progression of print. Basic comprehension is displayed when a student looks at pictures for clues about the story and makes predictions based on these clues.
Phonics is another essential element of comprehension. Children learn most phonics skills in kindergarten and first grade. They must be able to identify letters, produce sounds and decode (sound out) words. Phonics is the combination of phonemic and phonological awareness. Children learn to hear and manipulate sounds in isolation, then apply those skills to words in print. Most students learn initial sounds, then final and medial sounds, followed by blends and digraphs. Mastery of phonics is important. If children spend an inordinate amount of time decoding, they will struggle to remember what they read.
Oral reading fluency is directly linked to overall comprehension of a text. Children can be tested in oral reading as early as first grade by teachers using assessments that measure the WPM (words per minute) they can read. Students read a grade-level passage for one minute while the test administrator records mistakes which are subtracted from the total number of words read. The difference is the WPM. Children who are proficient or advanced in this skill have an easier time comprehending what they read because they spend less time on basic decoding. They are also able to comprehend when reading silently because they recognize words with a greater degree of automaticity.
Reading fluency comprehension is evidenced by a child who can read a story, decode most of the words and apply simple and advanced comprehension strategies. Pre-reading, phonics and oral reading skills culminate in a student being able to sound out words correctly while using expression, infer using context clues, determine the main idea and identify conflicts and solutions. They will also know how to summarize and retell a story in their own words.