I had my first week of testing fluency for all students in their reading workbook. Those who I'd consider my advanced or top readers read between 120 and 180 words per minute! I was impressed with the inflection and pauses at commas and periods. Even though they were booking it, I felt the selection was well read by them. I encouraged the fastest readers to relax and slow down! I let them know that reading at 140-150 words per minute is solid reading for fourth and fifth graders. All of these readers had one or two nights to practice.
My at-grade level readers had at least three nights to practice. I felt that they did fine, but lacked the inflection and smoothness that I would like them to have. They read about what a beginning fourth grade reader should have. I thought with more practice, that their words per minute would be greater. I was disappointed, because I felt they didn't practice as they should have.
I had two below grade level readers who were awesome on this reading. They were being speedy, and cruised through a lot of words, but lacked inflection and reading with meaning that the first group exhibited. On the other hand, I commend their willingness to practice. That's the difference between these two readers and other at and below grade level readers. Students are to practice independently, and some did not choose to. Question: How do I motivate them to practice their weekly fluency?
