Students' Reading Fluency: Strength and Weakness

Write a short paragraph about your students’ reading fluency. Where are their strength and weakness? What have you done in the past to support students who are not yet fluent in their reading? Reading fluency is defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) as: "the ease or 'naturalness' of reading," including how a reader (i) groups or phrases words as revealed through intonation, stress, and pauses; (ii) adheres to the writer's syntax; and (iii) expresses oneself in feeling, anticipation, and characterization during oral reading. According to Ann Logsdon from About,com.guide; reading fluency is the ability to read phrases and sentences smoothly and quickly, while understanding them as expression of complete ideas. Reading fluency is the power to read quickly and accurately. The more fluent a reader, the more he or she automatically groups and recognizes words. Fluent readers excel at oral reading, which is highlighted by smooth and natural expression. For me, Reading fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and reading comprehension. Since fluent readers don't have to concentrate on decoding the actual words, they can focus their attention on what the text actually means. They can make mental connections throughout the text, as well as apply those connections to their personal backgrounds and experiences. Simply, fluent readers recognize the words and comprehend their overall meaning at the same time.
Unfortunately, Reading fluency is a significant struggle for many. The less fluent a reader, the more he or she must focus on decoding individual words. Less fluent readers have difficulty with oral reading, which is often slow, choppy, and without natural expression. Less fluent readers must focus their time and attention on figuring out the words, leaving little room for actually understanding the text. Since reading fluency is the key to reading comprehension, less fluent readers often fall behind in educational and professional achievement.
This had happened to my pupils. The weaker ones really struggling to finish even a simple text. They tend to pronounce the words wrongly and always left far behind from the others. At last they started to make noise and started to play. On the other hand, if they need to recite the nursery rhyme , it will be a ‘heaven’ for them. They will cooperate with me to sing the rhyme and will repeat the words patiently. They even dance along!
As for the others, they want to read the text as one big group. They like to be showed pictures cards about the text. They are very motivated to repeat the words’ pronunciation several times but make sure it is in a big group or else they won’t speak as individual. I always motivate them to read the text with expression because it will help them understand what are they reading. Sometimes I will choose randomly a girl or a boy and asked them to retell the text in their own style. At first, they were shy, but seeing their friends being positive, they retell the text confidently. For sure, sometimes, I do reward them with sweets and candies! The enrichment activity, they will find the meaning of certain words in the dictionary and write it on the given nametag. They will wear the nametag for two days during the school hours. This is what I called as ‘the walking dictionary’. They love to read their friends’ words with the meaning. The words will change every two days. Twice a week after recess, I will randomly call them to the front and they will retell their memorized words with the meaning.
As a conclusion, everything is depending on the teacher. The teacher needs to find creative ways in influencing their pupils into reading English text.