elements of reading

(The big six)

December 15, 2023
 In a move to bridge literacy gaps among
learners, the Department of Education (DepEd)
is intensifying its campaign on reading
proficiency with the unveiling of
Hamon: Bawat Bata Bumabasa (3Bs) or the
DepEd Memorandum No. 173, s. 2019 dated
November 22, 2019, from Secretary Leonor
Magtolis Briones, DepEd-Central Office
entitled “HAMON: BAWAT BATA BUMABASA
(3Bs Initiative)”
 The Elements of Reading
Learning to read is one of the most important
educational outcomes of primary education. The
ability to read is fundamental to children’s learning,
including their development of broader literacy skills,
and to their future successful participation in society,
including the workforce.
Reading is a complex process that involves both
learning to decode texts and learning to make
meaning from texts.
An Early Literacy Program, where learners “Learn to Read”
should have the following Elements which is called “The
Big Six.”
To be effective readers, children need to be able to use
the six elements in combination. An integrated approach
to explicit reading instruction is therefore essential to
provide relevant learning connected to other experiences.
While teachers may highlight individual components at
different times, they are not a set of isolated skills and
need to be integrated throughout reading opportunities
across the day. So, for example, while the systematic
 1. Oral language
It is impossible to understand the written form of a language without a
wide vocabulary and familiarity with language structures. These are, in
most cases, already well-developed before a child begins school (Reese,
Sparks & Leyva, 2010; Skeat et al, 2010). Oral language therefore
provides the foundation for learning to read and is directly linked to
overall reading achievement. When children are surrounded by and
included in increasingly complex conversations, they:
*expand their vocabulary;
*increase the complexity of the language structures they use;
*become language risk-takers;
*develop confidence in the way they communicate;
*clarify their thinking and deepen their understanding of their world; and
*tune into the sounds of the standard language.
 2. Phonological awareness
Phonological awareness refers to the ability to focus on the sounds
of speech. It encompasses an awareness of rhythm, rhyme, sounds,
and syllables. Awareness often begins with rhythm, for example,
children clapping the beats of their name. The next step is often
rhyme: producing rhyming patterns like king, wing and sing
demonstrates early phonemic awareness which is the most
important subset of phonological awareness in the development of
reading and spelling.
It enables children to identify and focus on the separate sounds in
words: phonemes. Children then learn to divide syllables into
separate sounds and manipulate them to form different words.
Letter-sound relationships can then be introduced and children can
be taught phonemic and phonics skills simultaneously from this
 3. Phonics
Phonics involves recognizing the relationship between letters and
sounds, sometimes called the ‘alphabetic principle.’ Current
empirical evidence supports teaching beginning and struggling
readers using a synthetic approach to phonics (Johnston &
Watson, 2003; Rose, 2006). This approach teaches single letters
and common letter combinations in a discrete, systematic, and
explicit way. The order in which they are taught facilitates their
blending into simple words so that children can immediately
practice their new skills, building automaticity, and confidence.
The research also recommends that these new skills are
reinforced as early as possible by having children both listening to
high quality texts and reading connected text themselves.
 4. Vocabulary
When children know the meaning of a word, they are far more likely
to be able to read it and make sense of it within a text. Children
need to be continually expanding the range of words that they can
understand and use in context. Vocabulary development’ is both an
outcome of comprehension and a precursor to it, with word
meanings making up as much as 70-90% of comprehension’
(Bromley, 2007).
Vocabulary is, for the most part, learned through repeated exposure
to new words in conversations, by listening to stories, by reading,
and through different media (Senechai, 1997)
 5. Fluency
Fluency is not the ability to just read quickly. Fluent reading is the
ability to make reading sound like spoken language. It is reading
with appropriate phrasing, expression, and pace. Fluent readers
understand and make meaning of the text as they read. Core
components include accuracy, pace and expression, and volume.
There is a strong correlation between fluency and comprehension.
Even highly competent readers will not be fluent
when the text contains many unfamiliar or technical
words that are new to the readers. Fluency
demands that the text be at the readers’
independent reading level. This is why beginning
and struggling readers need simple texts at their
independent level to build speed and confidence.
 6. Comprehension
Effective readers understand the purpose of their reading and
adjust their reading behaviors (skimming, scanning, or reading
closely for detail) according to that purpose. They learn that
texts look different according to their identified purpose,
context, and audience. Readers’ understanding of the features
of different text types helps them make meaning.