Expression Over Accuracy: Supporting the Development of Joyful Readers

By Mark W.F. Condon, Unite for Literacy vice president

Parents and teachers frequently hear about school efforts to impact children’s reading “fluency.” That target may sound pretty good. Sadly, “fluency” typically is used to mean the number of words the child reads accurately each minute. Speed and accuracy are easy to count. However, they are not central to the development of enjoyable, lifelong reading, something rarely emphasized in schools. 

For those who do care about lifelong reading and learning, reading speed and accuracy are low priorities. When teaching children to become eager daily readers, kids benefit from learning to express emotion when reading to themselves or others. Stress, pitch, and juncture are what make reading sound like actual human speech, rich with personal meaning. The emotional connections conveyed through clear articulation increase the likelihood that new readers will want to read more and better. That is critical to continuous growth and that is why the lively reading aloud of books to children is so important.

When reading aloud, stress indicates the amount of volume used for a phrase or word-part, expressing personal importance or meaning. Whispering or other such changes in volume are an attention-getter for new readers.

Pitch is about raising or lowering the word’s musical note when saying a word, so that it carries emotion or emphasis. When a character says, “You WHAT!?”, it’s an appropriate response to his child’s dropping jewelry down the toilet. The capital letters, exclamation point, and question mark are cues for readers, indicating that the word “what” is to be read closer to a scream than simply made as a statement. 

Reading with thoughtful juncture is about spacing and pauses, changing speech to carry importance and/or immediacy: “STOP…hitting…Marie!” or the whispered “Look!… A hummingbird!” or “Donottellmeyoulostyourphoneagain!”

These three vocal qualities are critical when reading to those new to literacy learning!  In combination, they put spirit and life into printed language, illustrating for new readers the power of the written word.

The adage goes, “What gets measured gets done!” So, we don’t want those who are struggling with reading to just read faster or to slow down simply to avoid stumbling on words they might not even understand. We want them to read in a manner that expresses the richest meanings for them, that sounds like lively, human speech, like how people fervently or joyfully talk to others.That’s the kind of reading we all love to hear. And if children love it, they will seek to do it.

But what can parents or teachers do if they themselves haven’t experienced the kind of read-alouds we are advocating here? Fortunately, there are lots of rich resources they can turn to.* Consider which children already love books. Some of them are likely to be fluent and expressive readers themselves. A child’s passion for literacy is a dead giveaway that others have demonstrated that kind of expressive reading. Attention and coaching for better reading must be focused upon helping children understand and adopt such emotionally rich expressions in their own reading to themselves and to others.

It would be better if children first learn to read in a manner that reflects a full and enjoyable personal understanding of what they are saying rather than focusing upon careful accuracy in saying any word. That emotional richness leads to an eagerness on the part of children to read more, and to share more about what they read, conversing animatedly about their latest books with loved ones, enriching everyone’s lives.

That genuine energy in reading book language can launch children’s own inquiries, inspire heartfelt questions about new-to-them language, and spark growth in writing, magnifying the full potential of their reading experiences.

The most important purpose of developing literacy must never be to improve accuracy and speed on grade-level reading tests for school records or grading. Instead, the promise of literacy is to develop readers’ richest understandings and to enhance lifelong literacy.  

*For hundreds of fabulous examples of fluent and expressive reading of children’s books by actors and public speakers, visit https://storylineonline.net/ and enjoy several to hear how rich the language should be when reading to children or those of any age.