If your child struggles with sounding out words, spelling, or reading fluently, they may benefit from Orton Gillingham tutoring. Students with dyslexia and those who have difficulty with reading benefit from systematic, multi-sensory tutoring that can help them build their key literacy skills.
The Orton Gillingham approach is a research-based technique for teaching reading to students with dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities. Yet this approach can benefit any student who struggles with reading and needs additional support with this skill.
Below is a breakdown of the Orton Gillingham approach and how it can help your child build stronger reading skills
What is the Orton Gillingham Approach?
The Orton Gillingham approach is a systematic, evidence-based, multi-sensory methodology used to help students develop their reading and spelling skills. Orton Gillingham tutoring typically integrates the following skills:
- phonemic awareness
- phonics
- reading fluency
- reading comprehension
- spelling
Orton Gillingham lessons are diagnostic and prescriptive, meaning the sessions are individualized to the levels and pace of each student, and can be modified based on how the student responds to the instruction.
Assessment Before Orton Gillingham Tutoring Begins
Prior to students starting their Orton Gillingham tutoring lessons, they should be given an initial assessment to gauge their reading levels. This assessment can help determine specific challenges in:
- phonemic awareness
- letter and sound recognition
- decoding skills
- reading fluency
- spelling
After the assessment, the reading tutor should develop an individualized Orton Gillingham lesson plan that specifically addresses the student’s unique reading needs.
What Happens During Orton Gillingham Tutoring Lessons?
During Orton Gillingham tutoring lessons, students will learn sounds and rules following a systematic structure that integrates reviewing previously taught sounds and rules and teaching new ones. During the review portion of the lesson, Orton Gillingham exercises may include:
- audio-visual card drills
- writing letters based on sound dictations
- reading words with sounds and rules previously taught
- spelling words with sounds and words previously taught
After the review, the Orton Gillingham tutor will usually introduce a new sound, rule, or pattern. Some sounds and concepts that may be taught in Orton Gillingham lessons, depending on the student’s level, include:
- consonant-vowel-consonant words
- blends
- consonant digraphs
- vowel digraphs
- silent e patterns
- r-controlled patterns
- multi-syllable words
- prefixes
- roots
Orton Gillingham sessions typically end with oral reading from decodable passages that reinforce the sounds and concepts taught.
Multi-Sensory Instruction in Orton Gillingham Tutoring Lessons
One of the main components of Orton Gillingham lessons is multi-sensory instruction, which integrates the visual, auditory, and tactical/kinesthetic modalities. Examples of multi-sensory tools include:
- colored sand for tracing letters
- magnetic tiles
- mini whiteboards
- shaving cream
- audio-visual flash cards
- sandpaper
This multi-sensory instruction helps students grasp and retain new concepts taught in Orton Gillingham tutoring lessons.
Example of an Orton Gillingham Tutoring Lesson
Orton Gillingham tutoring lessons are individualized based on the needs of each student. However, a sample Orton Gillingham tutoring lesson might be as follows:
- A student learning the letter “a” may begin with an audio-visual card drill. For this exercise, the Orton Gillingham tutor holds up a card with the letter “a” on one side and a key picture on the other side, like a picture of an apple.
- The tutor says, “This is the letter a, like apple. It makes the sound /a/.”
- The student repeats the sequence three times to reinforce the sound-letter relationship.
- The student practices sky writing, where they trace the letter in the air while saying the letter formation aloud.
- The student practices tracing the letter in colored sand or shaving cream before writing it on paper.
- After the student learns more letters and sounds, they practice blending sounds together to form basic words.
- Later, they move onto spelling words, writing sentences, and reading decodable sentences and passages.
Who Benefits from Orton Gillingham Tutoring?
Orton Gillingham tutoring was originally designed to help students with dyslexia, but any struggling reader who needs reading remediation can benefit from this approach. Specifically, students who struggle with any of the following skills can benefit from Orton Gillingham tutoring:
- Decoding words
- Spelling words
- Reading fluently
- Exerting excessive energy when reading
- Comprehending material
- Writing effective sentences
The Orton Gillingham technique can be individualized to the needs and levels of all students.
Learn more about dyslexia tutoring at Help Your Child With Dyslexia Build Stronger Reading Skills | Knowledge Plus Tutoring
Orton Gillingham Tutoring in Palm Beach County
Many students struggle with reading and would benefit from Orton Gillingham tutoring. This approach can help students build their key literacy skills, including reading, spelling, and writing.
At Knowledge Plus Tutoring, we offer specialized one-on-one Orton Gillingham tutoring to students in grades prek-12 throughout Palm Beach and Broward Counties, as well as virtual Orton Gillingham tutoring. We use multi-sensory instruction to help students with dyslexia, ADHD, and other learning disabilities build stronger academic skills.
Dr. Emily Levy, the director of Knowledge Plus Tutoring, holds her Doctorate Degree in Education and has been helping students with dyslexia and reading challenges for over twenty years.
