Developing Reading Automaticity and Fluency: Revisiting What Reading Teachers Know, Putting Confirmed Research into Current Practice

Abstract

This article revisits research on reading automaticity and fluency with the goal of helping beginning reading teachers put confirmed research findings into current classroom practice. The article examines the concepts of automaticity and fluency, how both impact the development of skillful reading. The article reviews research on: a) reading strategies children use, and b) repeat reading teaching strategies to develop fluency. Case scenarios illustrate key findings. Based on the research and case scenarios, four conclusions are drawn: 1) The terms automaticity and fluency are often interchanged; the concepts are not the same; 2) Understanding the differences between automaticity and fluency can impact repeat reading teaching strategies; 3) There is an assumption that rapid word recognition is the same cognitive process as automatic word decoding; and 4) There are two pathways to fluent reading, rapid word recognition, and automatic decoding ability. The article presents a theoretical model which aligns with childhood learning theories, offering teachers a variation in repeat reading teaching strategies. Rather than repeating reading the same text, opportunities to read slightly different, decodable text improves decoding, builds fluency, and thus strengthens children’s reading comprehension of complex text.