1. Florida A&M University Tallahassee, FL Fluency

2. Fluency Terms Automatic word recognition—the ability to recognize words in print without conscious awareness or intention through a process that does not interfere with comprehension, even though the two processes occur simultaneously.

3. Comprehension—constructing meaning by integrating information from the text with prior knowledge; understanding the literal and hidden meanings and messages of the text; seeing and making connections between the text and the reader’s experiences, what has been read in other texts, and what is known about the world; seeing and understanding how the text is consistent or inconsistent within itself.

4. Fluency—the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and expression. Guided repeated oral reading—an instructional practice that involves providing feedback to students as they reread a passage until it can be read with fluency. Oral vocabulary—the stored collection of pronunciations and meanings of words the individual recognizes and understands when he hears them used in spoken language.

5. Prior knowledge—relevant information already known by the reader concerning the content of a text that is used (along with information directly from the text) to construct meaning and make inferences. Repeated reading—an instructional practice that involves rereading a passage until it can be read with fluency.

6. Word recognition—the process by which the reader matches words in print with their meanings and pronunciations stored in the reader’s brain. After accessing this information about words in a text, the reader brings this information to the part of the brain where comprehension occurs.

7. Working memory—the amount of cognitive or mental resources a reader can apply to the various tasks involved in the process of reading (i.e., word recognition, comprehension, drawing inferences, monitoring comprehension); the place in the brain where mental tasks such as word recognition and comprehension occur. Also the capacity to hold ideas or thoughts until they can be assembled and/or compared with other ideas or thoughts so their meaning is established, clarified, and validated.