I’ve had several parents ask what rate their children should be reading at, or how many “Words Per Minute” their student should be able to read (this includes their nightly reading fluency timings), so I thought it might be helpful to post some information regarding
reading fluency.
Here are some answers:
1. At what rate should my child be reading for this point in the school year?At this point in the school year, your child should be able to read about
70 Words Per Minute (WPM), accurately, according to several sources, including the Reading A-Z guidelines. Some guidelines recommend only 53 WPM for first grade and others recommend as high as 82 WPM by the end of first grade, but in my experience, if your child reads at or above 70 WPM, he or she will likely do well on the final DIBELS test of the year.
The other good news is that our class average for fluency was already 83 WPM way back in January and it has grown so, so much higher since then, so the vast majority of our students are already well above the upcoming reading fluency benchmark for DIBELS.
2. But isn’t it just as important for my child to comprehend his/her reading?Yes, of course it is! Reading comprehension is most definitely as important as fluency! That is why we focus a lot on re-telling the story after a timing and we work on learning comprehension strategies here in class.
It is important to know, though, that
there is a very strong correlation between reading fluency and reading comprehension, which means that those students who read at a more fluent rate are likely comprehending more of their reading, too. When your child works to build his reading fluency, his reading comprehension will likely increase, too.
3. What if my child is struggling with becoming a fluent reader or achieving a higher Words-Per-Minute rate? What can be done?Unfortunately, there is no “magic bullet” for building reading fluency. There are, however, 10, and only ten, very simple ways to build fluency:
Truthfully, the best way to boost your reading skills is to….read! Your child needs to be exposed to the task of decoding words on a very consistent basis. Of course, we spend much of our school day reading, however, research has shown how incredibly important it is to reinforce this skill at home – every day. Encourage your young reader to read as much as possible, and remember: consistency is the key. Build a consistent reading time into your day and stick to it – every day!
We keep our water bottles in the cubbies, and students are welcome to get a drink ANY time they want, as long as I am not right in the middle of instruction. 
