Literacy Corner 

Reading Fluency and Comprehension

Across K-6, students are continually developing their reading fluency and comprehension. These skills grow over time and look different at each stage, but every child benefits from regular, positive reading experiences at home.

Fluency is the ability to read with:

• Accuracy (decoding and reading the words correctly)
• Pace (not too fast, not too slow)
• Prosody (intonation, expression and phrasing)

Comprehension is the ability to understand, interpret, and think about what they read. This includes:

• Retelling key events
• Making predictions
• Understanding vocabulary
• Making connections to their own experiences
• Thinking about characters, themes, and ideas

When a child is using most of their energy to sound out individual words, they have very little attention left to understand the story or information. As their reading fluency improves, reading becomes faster and smoother, and they begin to recognise words automatically. This allows them to focus on what the text means rather than simply decoding what it says. With this mental space freed up, students can make predictions, visualise what’s happening, and connect ideas, all of which are essential to strong comprehension.

How can you help at home? 

• Read together regularly 
• Model fluent reading by reading aloud so children hear natural pace, phrasing, and expression.
• Re‑read familiar books or passages to build confidence and automatic word recognition.
• Encourage sounding out and blending for younger readers, and using context clues or breaking words into parts for older readers.
• Change your tone and volume for different characters and parts of the story. 
• Pause to talk about the text: ask questions about characters, events, predictions, and ideas.
• Discuss new vocabulary and use new words in everyday conversation.
• Make connections (“Does this remind you of something you’ve seen or done?”) to deepen understanding.
• Celebrate effort, not perfection: keep reading positive and enjoyable.

Fluency and comprehension develop gradually across all primary years. By practising regularly at home and school, students build the skills they need to become thoughtful, capable, and enthusiastic readers.

Keep an eye out in future newsletters for writing and other literacy work samples!