Once students have learned to decode, prosody becomes increasingly important. Readers need to engage with the text, to understand the underlying messages and infer emotions. When students are able to read with fluency, to read with appropriate intonation and phrasing, to bring the text to life with rhythm, tone and expression, then it is a clear indication that they are able understand the text and the nuances contained within the text.
Murray (2025) suggests the following strategies:
- Model fluent reading.
- Use echo reading whereby the teacher (or a competent reader) reads a short passage (or a sentence) aloud and the student rereads the same passage trying to match tone, pitch and pacing.
- Choral reading in which a passage is read as a group.
- Highlight phrasing and pausing by using slashes to indicate a pause and highlighting words to indicate emphasis.
- Use poetry and song lyrics as these naturally incorporate rhythm and expression.
- Record students reading, have them listen to the recording and help them evaluate their reading in terms of pace, tone, appropriate pausing, emphasising of important words and relevant expression.
Just remember, as Jan Habrouck points out, fluency is not a skill – it is the outcome of many complex skills and before you focus on prosody, student must first be able to read with accuracy. Once they can read with accuracy, then they need to be able to read at an appropriate rate (think the reading should sound like talking). Once students can read accurately at an appropriate rate, then you can start focusing on prosody.
Reference
Habrouck, J. (2025). Reading fluency – essential for comprehension. Reading League Conference, Chicago.
Murray, M. (2025). When Prosody is the problem: Strategies to improve reading fluency. The Bulletin, 61, 12-13