Whether you are reading the step by step directions in a cookbook while making dinner or engrossed in a novel, we read for various reasons. Quite simply, she must know the answer to the following question: why am I reading this? Knowing your objective helps you achieve it. Prior to reading, a child needs to identify the reading purpose. Sets GoalsĪ good reader establishes a purpose for reading. Repeated reading (rereading the text for speed and accuracy) and modeled reading (hearing what it should sound like) are both great ways to improve fluency. When a child struggles with word identification, his attention is no longer on understanding the written text but rather identifying the word. As a child progresses, the evolution will lead to understanding the text as a whole rather than the individual words. The ability to read words rapidly and accurately allows a child to focus on understanding the text – the ultimate goal of reading.

A child must progress from individual word decoding to automaticity -fast, accurate and effortless word identification. Vaugh and Linan-Thompson authors of Research-Based Methods of Reading Instruction refer to a good reader as an “active processor of text.” Good readers possess the following seven habits: Reads Rapidly and AccuratelyĪ good reader reads fluently. A good reader actively thinks as he reads.

The good reader