Exploring Targeted Instructional Strategies to Improve English Reading Fluency in Kindergarten Students

What if your Kindergarten students can sound out words—but still can’t read smoothly or confidently?

This action research explored whether targeted strategies like guided reading, phonics games, and repeated reading could strengthen early English reading fluency, accuracy, and confidence.

PROBLEM IN
CONTEXT

What the Data Revealed

At Beaconhouse Early Years Campus (Block 4, Gulshan), several kindergarten students were struggling to read fluently. Classroom observations and Running Records showed that many children were reading slowly, hesitantly, and with frequent errors, which affected both their comprehension and confidence—especially because English was not their first language.

Why it Mattered

Fluency is not just about speed—it is the bridge between decoding and understanding. When children read word-by-word with repeated mistakes, they lose meaning and motivation. Without early fluency support, these learners risk falling behind in literacy development and may struggle to transition from emergent reading to independent reading.

This challenge raised an important question: if students are learning phonics and sight words, why do they still read with hesitation and errors? To explore this systematically, the teacher used action research to test whether a six-week program of guided reading, phonics games, and repeated reading could improve reading accuracy, speed, and overall fluency.

A performance target was established — students would show measurable improvement in Running Record indicators, including higher accuracy, faster reading rates, and fewer errors — highlighting that fluency growth should be visible and trackable.

Research Question

How does implementing a structured reading fluency program—through guided reading sessions, phonics games, and repeated reading exercises—improve the reading accuracy and speed of kindergarten students in my class over a six-week period?

Objective 01

Improve Reading Fluency

To improve the reading fluency of kindergarten students by implementing structured interventions such as guided reading sessions, phonics games, and repeated reading exercises.

Objective 03

Identify the Most Effective Strategies

To measure the effectiveness of these targeted instructional strategies in enhancing students’ reading accuracy and speed.

Objective 02

Measure Growth in Accuracy & Speed

To track improvement using Running Records by comparing reading accuracy (%) and words per minute before and after the program.

Objective 04

Strengthen Early Years Literacy Practice

To strengthen teaching practices by identifying which fluency-building strategies best support young learners’ literacy development.

INTERVENTION TIMELINE AND ACTIVITIES

Week 1 – Baseline & Grouping

  • Pre-assessment using Running Records

  • Students grouped by reading level

Weeks 2–3 – Guided Reading + Phonics Games

  • Guided reading in small groups (3x/week)

  • Daily phonics games to strengthen decoding

Weeks 4–5 – Repeated Reading + Progress Checks

  • Repeated reading sessions (3x/week)

  • Ongoing monitoring and feedback

Week 6 – Post-Test & Review

  • Post Running Records

  • Results compared and reflected upon

FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS

Reading Accuracy Increased Significantly

Average accuracy improved from 72.87% → 83.94%, showing stronger word recognition and decoding.

Reading Fluency Speed Improved

Reading rate increased from 25.34 WPM → 34.10 WPM, reflecting better automaticity and smoother reading.

Reading Errors Reduced Strongly

Total errors dropped from 34.05 → 20.45, showing fewer decoding breakdowns during reading.

Self-Correction Did Not Improve Significantly

Self-correction reduced from 11.79 → 6.33, but the change was not statistically significant (p = 0.228), suggesting that self-monitoring may need longer or more targeted support.

If you’re interested to learn more about the intervention, methodology, resources or the results, click on the relevant button below to access the full research report.

Beaconhouse Employees – Open Internal Report with BSS Login
Non-Beaconhouse Users – Access Report by Requesting on Google Forms

Here’s the report podcast if you’re interested.

Sana Ali

Teacher

Sana is a Kindergarten teacher who facilitates learning across all subject areas through play-based and inquiry-driven approaches. Engaging in action research has strengthened her reflective practice and deepened her understanding of how young students learn. She believes that research equips educators with the insight needed to make informed decisions, ultimately enhancing teaching effectiveness and improving student outcomes.