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How to Graph Reading Fluency

Whether your child reads well will affect his entire life. Reading fluency is the ability to read smoothly, with expression and little conscious attention paid to decoding text. Fluency is an important element of reading because it affects comprehension. Those who have poorer fluency retain and comprehend less of what they read. This is because poorer fluency requires that more cognitive effort be directed to decoding, which leaves fewer attentional resources for comprehension. Graph your child's reading fluency to monitor and record his progress, which will assist in meeting reading comprehension objectives.

Instructions

- 1
  Select reading material that is the right level for the child you are going to assess. Text that is too difficult or too easy will render your results inaccurate. Choose new material that she has never seen before.
- 2
  Have the child read for one minute. During that minute, pay attention to the accuracy of the reading. It is helpful if you have a copy of the reading material or if you are beside him, so you can follow along. As you listen, record the number of errors made.
- 3
  Calculate the reading fluency by subtracting the number of errors from the total number of words read. For example, if she has read 100 words and made 3 errors, her reading fluency is 97 words per minute.
- 4
  To create your graph, use the fluency words per minute as one of your graph values. Choose a second value, such as time or date. For example, if you plan on retesting daily, make the second value of your graph the days of the week.
- 5
  Re-test at regular intervals using consistent methods. This will provide additional data for your graph as well as monitor your child's progress. Hang the graph somewhere he can see it as a way of motivating him to participate in future testing sessions.

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