literacy instruction, and making meaning (Anderson, 1981; Marr & Dugan, 2007; Peebles, 2007; Rasinski, 2006). The
development of these reading attitudes and skills has positive impacts on overall reading achievement. Through the
building of reading fluency, students learn to read with sufficient accuracy, automaticity, and prosody, all of which
lead to enhanced comprehension (Rasinski, 2006).
Most educators agree that the selection and implementation of effective reading fluency instruction is
essential to a successful reading program. However, teachers often vary in their ideas of what constitutes effective
reading fluency instruction. As reported in the National Reading Panel (2000), “There is common agreement that
fluency develops from reading practice. What researchers have not yet agreed upon is what form such practice
should take to be most effective” (p. 1). The question for educators today is: What are the best practices regarding
reading fluency instruction?
There is an evident need to address the key component of reading fluency in elementary reading programs
today. Rasinski (2004) reports the following:
Since the publication of the National Reading Panel report (2000) and other recent scholarly reviews of
scientific research (Chard, Vaughn, & Tyler, 2002; Kuhn & Stahl, 2000; Rasinski & Hoffman, 2003), reading
fluency has taken a front seat in discussions about student reading success and effective instruction in
reading. Yet programs and materials addressing reading instruction and teacher training seldom tackle
reading fluency. (p. 46)
Some researchers speculate that this neglect of explicit reading fluency instruction may be due to a lack of
identified, manageable and effective, direct teaching strategies for teachers to implement in their reading programs
(Peebles, 2007; Wilfong, 2008; Young & Rasinski, 2009). Chard et al. (2002) contend, “This is likely due to the fact that
effective interventions for improving fluency are not widely known” (p. 387).
The goal, therefore, is to identify effective strategies and interventions for the development of reading
fluency that can be readily implemented into existing classroom reading programs. Effective reading fluency
instructional strategies provide practical applications of reading aloud and a variety of opportunities for students to
perform reading in authentic settings.
Instructional Strategies
A multitude of teaching strategies are available for developing reading fluency skills. Many studies support
the utilization of repeated readings as one of the most effective methods for building reading fluency (Allington,
1977; Anderson, 1981; Gonzales & Elijah, 1975; Kuhn & Stahl, 2003; National Reading Panel, 2000). Repeated reading
techniques come in a variety of forms and are easily implemented into existing reading programs. Activities that
utilize repeated readings have been shown to aid in building confidence, increasing wide reading, promoting
enjoyment of reading, and improving reading comprehension. This article will identify some of the most researchbased and teacher-practiced repeated readings strategies that have been effective in facilitating the development of
reading fluency.
Readers’ Theatre
Readers’ Theatre is a strategy that involves rehearsing and then performing an authentic script to an
audience. Preparation for the performance requires students to repeat the reading, focusing on using their voices,
actions [