All teachers know helping students become fluent in reading and writing involves more than measuring reading rates. Growth in fluency comes when teachers balance regular, systematic instruction with short bursts of teaching targeted to individual needs. But what does this look like in practice? And how can teachers integrate more fluency instruction into already packed literacy schedules?

Max and Gayle Brand have worked together with students and colleagues over many years to discover the most effective whole-class, small-group, and individual strategies and activities for building both reading and writing fluency. They link all this work to the most current research on fluency, taking readers into the daily routines of their classrooms.

Practical Fluency includes:

twenty-two sample lessons adapted to both primary and intermediate grades;
detailed portraits of whole-class lessons and discussion;
examples of how to differentiate fluency instruction;
a research base for fluency linked to specific teaching strategies;
fluency prompts and assessment rubrics.


Readers will be reassured by the many suggestions for integrating fluency into existing reading and writing workshop routines. In addition, this compact guide contains a wealth of suggestions for maximizing fluency instruction during transition periods, small-group instruction, and read-aloud sessions.