MSD Steuben County webinar explains reading fluency, Lexiles and home practice for early readers

MSD Steuben County hosted a virtual parent webinar on reading fluency in which district Director of Elementary Education Jonathan Winslow and first‑grade teacher Kiona Beyerwalter explained what fluent reading looks like, shared district expectations by grade and offered concrete home practice strategies and online resources.

Why it matters: Teachers and parents at the session said fluent reading frees working memory so students can focus on meaning. That, presenters said, supports vocabulary growth and deeper comprehension — the ultimate goal of elementary reading instruction.

At the start of the webinar, Jonathan Winslow, director of elementary education for MSD Steuben County, described fluency as three linked skills: accuracy (saying the correct words), rate (reading at a brisk, appropriate speed) and expression or prosody (using phrasing, intonation and volume so reading sounds like natural speech). “We don’t want you to sound like a robot,” Winslow said, explaining that teachers coach students to pause at punctuation and use conversational phrasing.

Beyerwalter, a first‑grade teacher at Ryan Park Elementary School in Angola, walked parents through practical classroom and at‑home exercises. She demonstrated choral reading (adult and child read the same passage together to practice pacing and phrasing), close reading (an adult pauses and the child supplies a missing word to practice accuracy) and timed reading (the child reads alone while timed, records the result, then repeats to improve speed and accuracy).

Benchmarks and measurement: Presenters described how the district uses words‑correct‑per‑minute (WCPM) checks and Lexile measures to match texts to students’ skill levels. Guidance shared in the session included:

- Kindergarten / pre‑K: Not expected to be fluent by the end of kindergarten; students are still learning letters, sounds and short words.

- First grade: For texts at or under roughly a 300 Lexile, district guidance places grade‑level fluency at about 60–90 WCPM by the end of first grade; 34–59 WCPM is “approaching expectations” and under 34 WCPM is “below expectations.”

- Upper elementary example: Fifth‑grade meeting expectations was shown with texts in the 700–790 Lexile band and a benchmark of more than 146 WCPM.

Winslow emphasized that Lexile and WCPM are a range, not a rigid rule. He also said families should balance books children can read independently with read‑alouds and slightly harder texts children can try with adult support.

Lexiles and choosing books: The presenters explained Lexile measures as a numerical indicator of text complexity and showed how parents can use an online Lexile lookup (Lexile Leveler) to check titles at the library or bookstore. They recommended choosing “just‑right” books — not always the hardest or the easiest — so students get meaningful practice.

Core5 program and district support: Beyerwalter described Core5, a supplemental program the district uses to practice phonemic awareness, phonics patterns and decodable reading. She said the program produces individualized lessons and that teachers can send those materials home. Beyerwalter gave two examples from her classroom: a student whose Lexile moved from 146 at baseline to 179 at midyear, and a first grader who completed Core5 material at a mid‑third‑grade level. She noted Core5 is currently available to a set of district elementary schools (as presented in the session). (Transcript wording about which schools participate was ambiguous in places.)

Home practice, step by step: The webinar gave specific, repeatable activities parents can use:

- Choral reading: Sit side by side and read the same passage aloud together to model phrasing and pacing; if the child races ahead, ask them to match the adult’s pace; if accuracy lapses, reread the sentence together.

- Close reading (fill‑in): Adult reads and pauses; child supplies the missing word, which practices accuracy and immediate decoding.

- Timed reading: Child reads while timed; stop timer when child pauses; record WCPM and repeat the passage to beat the score; repeated reading of the same passage is an endorsed practice to build automaticity.

Beyerwalter demonstrated each in the webinar and encouraged caregivers to aim for accuracy and expression, not only speed.

Resources: Presenters shared two public resources during the session:

- Decodable passage collections (referenced in the chat): sites offering printable and on‑screen decodable passages for kindergarten through second grade to use for choral/close/timed practice.

- Lexile Leveler: an online tool parents can use to look up the Lexile measure of a book title before checking it out at a library or bookstore.

What the district will do next: Winslow said the series will continue; presenters announced another Raising Strong Readers session on Jan. 22 (time announced in the webinar) focused on building background knowledge to improve comprehension.

Ending: Presenters reiterated that fluent reading is a foundation for comprehension, that families and schools can use short, regular practice to build fluency, and that district resources (Core5, decodable passages and Lexile lookups) are available to guide next steps.