Orton-Gillingham

Orton-Gillingham is a reading approach based on the science of reading. While it is especially effective for teaching dyslexic children how to read, we believe it should be used to teach every child to read. We have seen firsthand that average readers become advanced readers utilizing this approach. Additionally, we know of no gentler approach for teaching a child to read than Orton-Gillingham, including children with ADHD, Asperger’s, autism, cognitive delays, and dyslexia. We advocate that every child be taught using the Orton-Gillingham approach, as it will produce stronger readers.

The Orton-Gillingham Academy, which honors the work of Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham, advocates nine core principles. They are as follows: diagnostic and prescriptive; individualized; language-based and alphabetic/phonetic, simultaneously multisensory; direct and explicit; structured, sequential, and cumulative, but flexible; synthetic and analytic; cognitive; and emotionally sound (Orton-Gillingham Academy, 2022). While we highly regard these principles and have ensured that all of our materials satisfy these requirements, we wish to define them so that every parent, teacher, and tutor can understand their importance.

Diagnostic and Prescriptive — If you walk into a doctor’s office with a fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, and swollen tonsils, the doctor asks the nurse to swab your throat. If the test comes back positive, the doctor will diagnose you as having strep throat. He may decide to write you a prescription for an antibiotic. The doctors have diagnosed your condition and prescribed a treatment. It’s precisely what we do when we meet a child that we suspect has dyslexia. We will look for warning signs, assess phonemic awareness, and evaluate reading errors. If the evidence points to dyslexia, we will then prescribe what they need to support their literacy journey.

Individualized — No two students are alike. We will begin with phonemic awareness, teach the fundamentals of phonics, cover reading and spelling rules, and move to morphology. What we do for one child might look different for another child. One child may respond to learning to read and spell with the help of letter tiles, while another may require extensive whole-body kinesthetic movement to learn the same principles. At the heart of the Orton-Gillingham approach is the incorporation of auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning (Kirby & Snowling, 2022, p. 42). At Lighthouse to Literacy, we provide ideas for children's needs at every level. We want to help all children reach their full literacy potential.

Language-Based and Alphabetic/Phonetic — A child with little to no phonemic awareness often becomes a disabled reader by the third grade. The lack of phonemic awareness often speaks to the severity of a child’s dyslexia. The Orton-Gillingham approach begins by teaching a child to hear the phonemes in each word so they can process the word correctly. We will start by hearing the sounds of letters in words. These sounds are called phonemes. There are three phonemes in the word cat: /c/ /a/ /t/. Once children can hear all the sounds, it’s time to begin teaching phonics —the relationship between sounds and the letters used to represent them. For instance, the letter a says /a/ as in apple. Once we teach the sounds of letters, we will begin learning the spelling rules. In time, we will also teach morphology, which includes the prefixes, suffixes, and roots of words.

Simultaneously Multisensory — We want to involve all the senses in teaching children to read. We will ask kids to feel, hear, see, and move to ensure they can process the sounds of letters and the rules of reading and spelling. Learning should be fun. Orton-Gillingham’s multi-sensory method allows a teacher to be creative while providing meaningful learning all while having fun. Children will use all of their senses and kinesthetic movement as they learn to read.

Direct and Explicit — Orton-Gillingham is explicitly and systematically taught. We will start with the small unit of sound, phonemes. Once a solid phonemic awareness foundation is laid, students will begin working through a scope and sequence, progressing from simple to complex reading concepts. We will teach phonics, reading and spelling rules, and morphology. We will first model each step of the process for the student. Next, we will review concepts together. Last, we will ask them to demonstrate what they have learned. A fitting motto is: I do, we do, and you do.

Structured, Sequential, and Cumulative, but Flexible — That’s a lot of words, but it simply means that we are going to start with the smallest concepts first and work our way to the more complex ones. As we learn new concepts, we will continue to review the ones we have already learned until a child has reached automaticity. How long it takes for a child to master a concept depends on the child, which is why we realize that we need to be flexible. A solid Orton-Gillingham program utilizes phonetic principles to teach a child to read. Reading and spelling rules are explicitly and systematically taught. Children practice writing their letters correctly. Next, children will begin writing words, then phrases, and eventually sentences. They are taught to proofread and correct their own work.

Synthetic and Analytic — Sometimes we wonder why we tend to use big words to define simple concepts. Synthetic means to work from parts to the whole. We do this when we read words. We start with the sounds /c/,/a/, and/t/, and blend them to make the word cat. On the other hand, analytic goes from the whole to the parts. We do this when we spell words. We start with the word cat and then apply what we have learned to spell c-a-t.

Cognitive — Reading takes brain power. As we teach concepts, we need to explain what the brain is doing and why it’s essential. To succeed, we need our students to understand the process. Orton-Gillingham is not a do-what-I-say approach. It’s not a because-I-said-so approach. Instead, it’s a let's-discover-this-together approach. We will teach how the concepts intertwine so that they can see how the puzzle pieces fit together.

Emotionally Sound — Too many children are already discouraged about learning to read. Their Orton-Gillingham teacher should be their biggest cheerleader. If that’s you, you will encourage them along the way, helping them see that they, too, can be successful readers.

References

Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators. (2022, August). OGA Principles of the OG Approach. https://www.ortonacademy.org/resources/og-approach-principles-2/

Kirby, P. J. & Snowling, M.J. (2022). Dyslexia: A history. McGill-Queen’s University Press. https://research.ebsco.com/c/r3w5i4/ebook-viewer/pdf/y7ib2wqtfb

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