Reading fluency - the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and expression -relies on more than just phonics and vocabulary knowledge. Efficient eye movements, known as eye tracking, are essential for fluent reading.
Eye tracking includes smooth movements across text lines, accurate word-jumps (saccades), and minimizing backward movements (regressions). Saccades are rapid, brief eye movements. Saccades play a crucial role in reading, allowing the eyes to move quickly between words and pause to focus. They are also essential for processing changes in our surroundings, guided by peripheral vision. By helping create a mental map of the environment, saccades enable efficient navigation and awareness. These movements occur automatically, triggered by shifts in spatial input. Children with poor eye-tracking skills may lose their place, skip words, and struggle with comprehension, which can make reading frustrating. Next time you watch a child in your class read, consider these 7 questions:
Does the child hold the material very close to their face or far away?
Do they squint or rub their eyes?
Do they use their finger to track the letters as they read?
Do they move their head instead of their eyes while reading? This is significant, as head movement can slow fluency and reduce the accuracy of saccades.
Are there extended pauses at the start of a new line as the child searches for the correct place to begin?
Does the child's word accuracy decline as they read further, or do they guess the end of sentences based on context?
Do they tilt their head to the left or right while reading?
Here are four actionable ways educators can support and improve students' eye tracking skills in the classroom.
1. Guided Reading with Pointers
Encourage students to use their finger, a pencil, or a ruler to follow the words as they read aloud. This external guide helps students keep their place and visually track each word from left to right.
For younger children, colourful, fun reading pointers like a “magic wand” may make the activity engaging.
Pair the technique with simple sentences for beginners, such as, “The dog runs fast. The cat sits still.”
Gradually move to paragraphs as the student becomes comfortable.
Model this technique during shared reading sessions by using a pointer to track text on a large display.
2. Line-by-Line Reading Guides
Provide tools such as reading strips, highlight rulers, or “text windows” that show one line or section of text at a time. These devices help focus a child’s attention on the current line while reducing distractions from surrounding text.
Use a plastic reading strip with a highlighted centre for each child.
Give students texts formatted with wide spacing between lines to encourage their focus. For example, a poem or short story with clear breaks can reduce cognitive overload while they develop tracking precision.
Practice line-by-line guided reading during small group work, asking students to move their strips after every line as you read along.
3. Eye Tracking Exercises
Activities that strengthen the eyes' ability to move smoothly and accurately are powerful tools for building this skill.
Object Tracking: Ask students to follow a small object (e.g., a brightly coloured ball) that you move slowly in different directions. This exercise helps coordinate eye movements.
Incorporate apps or digital games that specifically train eye tracking, such as letter-finding games or puzzles requiring word searches.
-Saccade Exercises:
a.) Saccade pen exercise
A helper holds two pens at eye level, 50 cm apart, and shakes one of them. The child looks at the helper's nose, then moves their eyes to the shaking pen, focuses on it, and then looks back at the helper's nose. The helper can vary the position of the pens.
b.) Notecard saccades
Place two notecards with letters on them at eye level, about 12 inches apart on a wall. The child stands about 3 feet away and looks back and forth between the notecards, moving only their eyes. The patient can also try this exercise with the notecards in a vertical orientation.
c.) Saccade pyramids
Start at the top of a page with a single letter or number and read the pairs of letters or numbers in order until the bottom of the page. The patient should keep their head still and try not to use their finger to point to the next letter or number.
d.) Column saccades
Post strips of letters on two yard sticks or on the sides of a door frame. The patient jumps their eyes from one letter to the next, going back and forth between each set of letters until they reach the end of the alphabet.
4. Consistent Practice with Appropriate Texts
Reading fluency improves when students are regularly exposed to texts at their skill level.
Providing slightly challenging, structured texts supports eye-tracking growth naturally.
Use predictable, repetitive texts for emerging readers. For more advanced students, select texts that have structured formats, such as poetry or prose with regular line breaks, like Shel Silverstein's “Where the Sidewalk Ends.”
Encourage timed reading activities where students repeatedly read the same passage, aiming for smoother and more accurate reading with each attempt. A passage with high-frequency words or simple sentence structures ensures success.
Eye tracking plays a vital role in reading fluency and comprehension. Teachers can help students improve their visual skills through simple, structured strategies like guided reading with pointers, line-by-line text guides, tracking exercises, and targeted text practice. This is particularly useful for children with dyslexia, attention-related disorders or those with poor reading fluency. By incorporating these methods into daily routines, educators can empower students to become more confident, fluent readers.
If problems are significant, rather than solely relying on teacher-led interventions, having an ophthalmic optician evaluate the issue could uncover and resolve the root cause, and so discussions with parents/carers or guardians, alongside other professionals, may also be necessary.
See if you could identify the children in your class who may need a little support in this area, and try a few of these techniques, and if you think we could support with reading fluency in your school or class, have a look here to see how we could help!
Comments