The National Reading Panel reports that students benefit from learning to read quickly, accurately, and with proper expression.  Regular, explicit instruction in guided oral reading gives struggling readers a clear learning benefit in terms of word recognition, oral fluency, and reading comprehension. Teachers should focus on phrasing, smoothness, expression, volume, pace and accuracy during fluency instruction.  Fluency does not ensure that students will have comprehension, but comprehension is difficult without fluency.  It forms the bridge between decoding and comprehension.

Tips on Helping Your Child Develop Fluency

Websites on Developing Fluency:

Improving Fluency in Young Readers
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/units/fluency.htm

Put Reading First: Fluency
http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/reading_first1fluency.html

Reading Rockets: Fluency
http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/fluency

Time for Learning: Fluency
http://www.time4learning.com/readingpyramid/fluency.htm

The Reading Genie: Developing Reading Fluency
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/fluency.html

Common Questions About Fluency
http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4470