6 Simple Ways to Practice French Reading Fluency

As we get older, we often take our ability to read for granted. We need only look at the page, letting our eyes move along the words, to understand what’s being said. But reading fluency doesn’t come naturally. It takes time and practice. (As I’m sure you know!)

Working on French reading fluency isn’t any different to English. We start by breaking down the words into their sounds, and we build up from there. Eventually, students begin to glance over the words, picking up their meaning and constructing the sentences in their minds.

Let’s take a closer look at French reading fluency.

What is Reading Fluency?

Reading fluency is the ability to read automatically without any hesitation. It means you don’t need to parse out the words or break up the sentence. Someone who reads sound by sound or syllable by syllable, for example, doesn’t have good fluency.

In the early years, fluency is directly linked to decoding skills and sight word repertoire. The more sight words you know, the more fluent you are. (Although we all face words we struggle to read from time to time.)

Sight words aren’t the same as high-frequency words. The latter are words frequently found in the language, e.g., un, est, je, while the former are words that the brain has stored and recalls automatically. No decoding occurs. By the time we’re adults, most words are sight words. However, for children building up their French reading fluency, a high-frequency word and sight word might not be the same thing.

Why Is Reading Fluency Important?

Reading is fundamental to everyday life. The ability to glance at a road sign, browse a book, or understand a form requires a high level of reading fluency. If we can’t do this, the task becomes extremely difficult and time-consuming.

It’s, therefore, crucial to build up your students’ decoding skills early on so that they can turn these words into a catalog of sight words.

How to Practice French Reading Fluency

Practicing French reading fluency doesn’t have to be laborious. I’ve got some fun and engaging activities that keep your students involved.

Decoding Games

One great way to build reading fluency in our classrooms is through decoding games. These engaging games keep our students excited to learn while practicing the essential skill of reading nonsense words—words that aren’t real but are excellent for honing decoding abilities.

By focusing on nonsense words, we’re helping students get comfortable with different letter combinations, which boosts their confidence and speed with real words, too. It’s a fun, effective approach to fluency that works across diverse reading levels and abilities.

The best part about working with nonsense words? You know your students are practicing decoding various combinations. These aren’t real words stored in their sight word library. The quicker they can decode the various combinations, the better they’ll be at fluently reading unknown words.

Sentence Pyramids

Sentence pyramids introduce one word at a time. It gives your students the chance to digest what they learn. Perfect for students who can decode words but aren’t doing it quickly (yet).

Here’s how it works: each new word is introduced on a new line. As the students work their way through each line, they complete the whole sentence. With a strong emphasis on repetition, it really lodges the practice in their minds.

This resource is a favourite! It has a component of reading comprehension and is entirely decodable (aside from a few high frequency words). Students simply cut and paste the right photo beside the sentence – and there are two extras that don’t go with any particular sentence to keep them guessing. You won’t find any digraphs or trigraphs in this exercise, making it great for early readers.

Partner Reading

Partner reading is a classic way to improve French reading fluency. Pair up the students (ideally with kids who have the same level of proficiency) and have them read together. That could be at the same time or one at a time.

You’ll find students helping each other out with difficult words, and it is a great way to practice fluency. If your students are anything like mine, then they’ll love working together.

Literacy Centres

Literacy centres are an incredible way to engage students in hands-on learning, whether in whole-class or small-group settings. These activities, like task cards, are designed for success—even our earliest readers can jump right in as long as they know basic letter sounds (no tricky compound sounds here!).

Six centres are included, each one targeting different literacy skills:

• Sentence Clip Cards
• Sentence Scramble
• Decode and Draw
• Matching
• Sequencing Puzzles
• Pyramid Sentences

These fun, interactive centres make literacy practice accessible and enjoyable for all. Looking for an effective way to build literacy confidence? These centres are perfect!

Repeated Reading

Shared reading is something I’m passionate about – I’ve talked about it a lot! Repeated reading pairs really well with this kind of exercise. I find that the more you practice and are exposed to something, the easier it is to master it.

In my class, I do shared readings with a phonics-based story. While these stories aren’t decodable, because I’m leading the class, it’s okay. I can model the right reading behaviour – for example, breaking down the words into syllables or decoding each sound.

Your students might not yet be at the level of independently reading compound sounds. However, you still want to expose them to the sounds and spelling (digraphs and trigraphs). This is a great way to do just that. So, even if they can’t read them, they’ll still recognise what they are.

Decodable Reading Passages

Noticing a trend yet? Anything decodable is perfect for French reading fluency practice, and these passages are ideal because they follow a progression. To start reading the first pack, students only need to know their letter sounds. The second pack then focuses on accents, and later packs introduce French compound sounds, one at a time.

Plus, no compound sound appears in any earlier package until it’s been introduced, so following them in order means students won’t encounter any words with unfamiliar sounds. Want to try them out? Check out the bundle!

Want to check out the resources listed?

All the links above lead to TPT, but the resources are also available on our website. Here are the resources available here for purchase in CAD. Don’t forget you can also buy credits for an additional discount (up to $15 off).