Orton-Gillingham
What is the Orton-Gillingham approach?
The Orton-Gillingham approach was developed in the 1930’s-1940’s by a neurologist, Samuel Orton, and a linguist, Anna Gillingham, and their colleagues. Following years of research, the approach was designed to help individuals with severe dyslexia learn to read. It is a multi-sensory, systematic technique that enables students to learn the concepts necessary for reading and spelling through direct instruction. The pace of the program is individualized to each student’s needs in order to achieve understanding, success, and confidence with the concepts learned. Measurable success has been achieved with the use of this approach.
What do you teach with the approach?
The student learns sound/symbol association (e.g., “D makes the /d/ sound.”), word blending/decoding (i.e., putting together individual letters to read a word), encoding (i.e., using letters and words to spell a word), the seven syllables types (i.e., closed syllables, open syllables, “magic e”, vowel teams, “bossy r”, diphthongs, and consonant-le), and a number of miscellaneous rules and higher-level concepts. In addition, techniques for remembering the spelling of “red words” are also taught. These are words that either do not fit the rule system, or contain rules that the student has not yet learned.
Vocabulary development, reading comprehension, reading fluency, and written language formulation may also be incorporated into the student’s program, depending upon individual’s needs.
Would learning this approach confuse my child?
The nature of the program is not at all contrary to anything your child would learn at school. We make every attempt to coordinate our instruction with the student’s academic needs. For example, we are sometimes provided with a child’s list of spelling words, which gives us an opportunity to show the student how to learn, read, and spell the specific words used at school.
What does “multi-sensory” mean?
“Multi-sensory” refers to the use of many senses or modes of learning. For instance, we may incorporate writing in the sand or writing on a “bumpy board” to provide more tactile input through the fingers. Finger tapping is used to aid decoding and spelling and arm tapping is employed by the student to learn “red words”. Letters or words are simultaneously said aloud while reading and writing them during the learning process (e.g., “S says /ssss/.” “J-O-E-Y, Joey”). When first learning or reviewing a new concept, this multisensory process is completed three times, in order to aid retention and recall.
Multi-sensory techniques, such as these, are very effective, as they not only make the student a more active participant in the learning process, but they also involve larger areas of brain activation. The areas of the brain controlling vision, speech, hearing, language, motor skills, and sensation, and their connecting pathways, become activated with multi-sensory learning.
What can my child expect from a session?
Your child will be presented with a divided coupon pack that contains blending cards. The presentation of these cards is based on your child’s stage in the program. They are used to put letters together to form words. As your child learns new concepts, corresponding cards will be added to the pack for more advanced word creation. In addition, your child will be provided with a few “red word” cards to practice for the week. During the sessions, much work is completed on dry erase boards using color-coded red markers (for “red words”, which make us stop and think about the word before reading spelling them) and green markers (for words which follow the rules—we can go ahead and sound them out.) A folder for home exercises and a “bumpy board” for tactile practice will also be provided. Parents are welcome to observe these sessions to aid in better carryover of the concepts.
We attempt to make our sessions fun and motivating for the child, while maximizing the opportunities for learning. It has been our experience that the children really enjoy the program and gain confidence as they finally find success for their reading and spelling issues. Their success has been evident in better test scores and grades.
What can I do to help?
If your child is receiving Orton-Gillingham training, it is quite helpful to observe our sessions. In addition, review of the concepts learned each week aids the student’s rate of progression in the program. As the parent is the common link between the school and our center, we appreciate being informed of any questions, concerns, and successes.
Where can I find more information?
Additional information can be found at the Orton-Gillingham website: www.ortongillingham.com.