Fluency is a major goal.

These programs use methods and materials that help students to recognize words accurately and rapidly, and to group words into meaningful phrases--the three dimensions of fluency. There is clear evidence that unless students become fluent in their ability to identify words, they will have difficulty concentrating their attention on comprehending and responding to the texts they read (LaBerge & Samuels, 1974; Nathan & Stanovich, 1991).

To build fluency, students are encouraged to reread a book several times once it has been introduced. There is evidence that the repeated reading of a text leads to improved word identification skills and comprehension (Blum & Koskinen, 1991; Dowhower, 1987; Herman, 1985; Samuels, 1979). As children move through these programs, they become familiar with an increasing number of texts. They are encouraged to reread these texts to gain additional practice, to extend their fluency, and to build confidence in their growing reading competency. Children feel very rewarded by their feelings of confidence. As one child put it, "I think about these books [ones he'd already read] as my old friends!"