Final answer:
Reading fluency involves the ability to read text accurately, quickly, and with understanding. It includes proper expression and comprehension, allowing readers to connect ideas within and outside the text, enhancing critical thinking and analysis skills.
Step-by-step explanation:
Reading fluency does not refer to only knowing the definitions of terms, understanding the meaning of a single word, learning to take good notes, or asking a lot of questions. Rather, it encompasses a broader skill set. Reading fluency is the ability to read text not just accurately, but also with speed, proper expression, and most importantly, understanding. It involves reading sentences and passages smoothly, at an appropriate pace, and with good comprehension. When individuals read fluently, they can make connections within and between texts, and draw upon their background knowledge to deepen their understanding of the material.
Increasing fluency requires practice in reading deeply for understanding, which includes reading closely, annotating, analyzing, and reflecting. This means being proactive as a reader: searching for meanings, making and testing predictions, asking relevant questions, and connecting the text to other knowledge. Reading comprehension is critical, and it leads not only to immediate understanding but to the ability to analyze and critically evaluate what one has read. To develop this level of literacy, one must go beyond the surface to actively engage with texts across various subjects and genres.