RF.5.4: Read with Accuracy and Fluency
Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.5.4 · Cluster: Fluency.
The Official Wording
Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
Common Core State Standards, Grade 5, Reading: Foundational Skills · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What RF.5.4 Means in Plain English
Fifth graders read with a purpose, then read grade-level stories and poems aloud accurately, at a natural pace and with expression, getting smoother on each reread. When a word doesn’t fit, like tears said as rips in “eyes filled with tears,” they use the context, reread and fix it.
RF.4.4 asks the same of 4th graders with easier text, and this is the last fluency standard in the Common Core. In 6th grade fluency is assumed, and the goal becomes understanding harder literature on their own (RL.6.10).
RF.5.4 I Can Statements
- I can read a passage aloud with few or no mistakes.
- I can read at a steady pace with expression that fits the text.
- I can reread when a word doesn’t make sense and fix it.
RF.5.4 Worked Example
One paragraph read three times, with the thinking behind each read, including a self-correction on a word with two pronunciations.
Read this paragraph aloud to a partner: The storm hit just after midnight. Wind tore at the shutters, and rain blew sideways across the porch. “Get away from the window!” Dad shouted. My little sister’s eyes filled with tears as the roof began to creak like an old ship.
- Before reading aloud, I read it silently so I know what happens and how it should feel.Storm at midnight, Dad shouts, sister is scared
- First read aloud, slow enough to get every word. I say tears like ripping paper. Eyes filled with rips? That doesn’t make sense, so I go back.tears as in rips? No. tears as in crying, rhymes with ears. Reread the sentence.
- Second read, at a steadier pace: a short pause at each comma, a full stop at each period, and the words grouped into phrases.Wind tore at the shutters, / and rain blew sideways / across the porch.
- Dad is shouting, so his line is loud and quick. The last sentence is scary, so I slow down and lower my voice.“GET AWAY from the window!” … like an old ship.
- Third read: my partner times it and marks misses. Fewer misses and a smoother pace than the first read means it’s working.Read 1: 2 misses, choppy. Read 3: 0 misses, smooth, with expression.
Check it: Ask the reader to retell the paragraph. If they can say what happened and why the sister was scared, the fluency is serving comprehension.
Common Mistakes with RF.5.4
Speed mistaken for fluency
Racing through the paragraph, skipping every comma and period
Try this: Score phrasing and expression on the fluency chart alongside words per minute, so speed alone never earns the top mark.
Reading past a word that makes no sense
Says tears as in ripping paper and keeps going
Try this: Teach students to stop at the end of any sentence that sounded wrong and reread it once before moving on.
Flat, word-by-word reading
“Get. Away. From. The. Window.” in the same voice as the narration
Try this: Mark phrase breaks with slashes and model each line twice, flat and then expressive, so students hear the difference before they try.
Where RF.5.4 Fits
Practice RF.5.4
Quick Check
- How should tears be said in “eyes filled with tears,” and how do you know?
- Where should the reader pause in “Wind tore at the shutters, and rain blew sideways across the porch”?
- Which line should be read loudest, and why?