Ms. Hydro's First Grade 
It is important to read to or with your child everyday! Set aside a special time each night to read...maybe even right before bed. Your child will learn that reading is fun and important to you. They will watch as you read, make connections to the story, further develop their imaginations and increase fluency. Reading to them will also help them to practice listening and paying attention. Have fun and "Happy reading!" :)
FLUENCY
"Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately and quickly. When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. They group words quickly to help them gain meaning from what they read. Fluent readers read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural, as if they were speaking." Put Reading First, p. 22
FLUENT READERS:
- Focus their attention on making connections among ideas in the text and their background knowledge
- Recognize words and comprehend at the same time
- Divide words into meaningful chunks so that they are able to read with expression
- Score higher on comprehension assessments
NON-FLUENT READERS:
- Focus their attention primarily on decoding individual sounds or words
- Spend their energies trying to “figure out” the words not the meaning
- Read in a slow, deliberate, and labored manner often pausing at inappropriate places
- Score lower on comprehension assessments
