Learning to read and read well is the most important educational outcome. Decades of research highlight the importance of reading success in the early years, but extending this expertise is imperative for intermediate readers. Accessing more complex texts requires ongoing focused reading instruction which continues to draw on six skilfully combined and executed forms of knowledge, skills and strategies. These have been identified across numerous studies over recent years and are commonly referred to as ‘The Big Six’:
In this section, we explore the ‘Big Six of Reading’, and unpack what students need to know and be able to do.
The term, ‘Big Six‘, was first coined in relation to reading by Deslea Konza, and has since gained major currency through the Australian Primary Principals Association, Principals as Literacy Leaders Program from 2009 and in subsequent publications by Dr Konza and other writers.
Title: Teach Them ALL to Read: Catching kids before they fall through the cracks. (Second Edition)
Author: Elaine McEwan (2009)
Description: This is a user-friendly guide that integrates research into practice. This resource covers strategies for nine essential components of effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, fluency, developing a reading culture, providing opportunities to read, writing, word knowledge, and comprehension.
This resource reveals precisely how educators in successful schools are teaching students to read—and how all educators can achieve the same results in their schools!
Available through Corwin Publishing Company
