Define fluency and describe a classroom practice that supports automaticity and prosody.

• A. Fluency is reading with speed and accuracy, but not necessarily expression.
• B. Fluency is the ability to read words correctly without any expression.
• C. Fluency is reading with speed, accuracy, and expression; practice includes guided repeated reading, choral reading, and performance-based readings with feedback.
• D. Fluency is vocabulary knowledge.

Answer: (C)

Fluency means reading with speed, accuracy, and expression; automaticity comes from recognizing words quickly so attention can flow to meaning, and prosody is the natural-sounding expression, intonation, and phrasing that makes the text clear. A classroom practice that builds both automaticity and prosody is guided repeated reading with feedback, complemented by opportunities for choral reading and performance-based readings. In guided repeated reading, the teacher selects a passage, models fluent reading with appropriate pace and expression, and students practice the passage several times with guided feedback on accuracy and timing. This repeated practice helps students read more quickly and accurately (automaticity) while focusing on reading with expression and proper phrasing (prosody). Choral reading and performance-based readings give students a chance to hear fluent expression modeled and to perform for peers, which reinforces expressive reading and rhythm. By combining these practices, students develop the speed and accuracy needed to read smoothly and the expressive voice that conveys meaning.

Some definitions focus only on speed or only on accuracy, or omit expression, which misses the full concept of fluency. Vocabulary knowledge is a separate area and does not by itself capture the fluency set of speed, accuracy, and expression.