Reading fluency has been identified as a key component in reading and in learning to read. Moreover, a significantly large number of students who experience difficulty in reading manifest difficulties in reading fluency that appear to contribute to their overall struggles in reading. In this article we explore the nature of effective instruction in fluency. We examine proven methods for teaching fluency as well as instructional routines that combine various methods into synergistic lessons. We also take issue with more mechanical approaches to fluency instruction that emphasize reading rate as the major goal of such instruction. Instead, we attempt to make the case for more authentic approaches to fluency instruction, approaches that employ texts meant to be practiced and performed. (Contains 1 figure.)