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K or CK? Is there a rhyme or reason? After introducing the FLOSS rule, the next spelling generalization that is usually taught is the K/CK spelling generalization. This is an incredibly useful and freeing spelling generalization that allows students to spell many words using standard spelling. This generalization applies to the END of words and…
Decoding and encoding consonant blends is among the most important concepts you teach your beginning readers. This is a skill they will use across multiple syllable types, in both single syllable and multi-syllabic words and even in reading and writing Latin roots and Greek combining forms. Your students may come to you already confident…
Many children have some knowledge of consonant digraphs when they start their Orton Gillingham lesson with an Orton-Gillingham tutor, although few really are familiar with the term digraph, its definition, or all of the digraphs we teach in Level 1. Here are some tips for making digraph instruction multisensory and memorable. A digraph is…
The beginning of a new school year is a time of very mixed emotions for many kids. Excitement about a new grade and new experiences blends with feelings of nervousness. For children who struggle academically, these feelings of anxiety can be multiplied both for the child and the parent. To smooth the transition, there are…
Using Multisensory Teaching Techniques Multisensory learning strategies are crucial not just for kids with dyslexia, or within Orton-Gillingham lesson plans, it is good solid teaching for ALL students. Incorporating multisensory learning tools into your classroom lessons will not replace intervention services, but it will make classroom lessons more accessible to students with learning differences. …
Whenever my students meet with me for an Orton-Gillingham lesson, they have a few supplies handy, like their Orton-Gillingham binder. I, of course, come towing my large O-G bag, but I find having things that the student can easily access while I am not with them is helpful for them. Families have an opportunity to see…
I use a lot of tracing in my Orton-Gillingham lesson plans. When I introduce a new phonogram, students will trace the letters while saying the sound. When I introduce a new prefix or suffix, students will trace the letters while saying the meaning. And when we are working on learned words (high frequency sight words…
After working with a student in Orton-Gillingham lessons for awhile, the routine can become very well known. Guess what? That’s a good thing! But… if you don’t take time to shake things up every now and then, you run the risk of having certain segments become a bit mundane. You really don’t want that to…
Last Spring, I received an email from Mindy Bramer, an educational consultant for PaTTAN, (Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network). The state of Pennsylvania had just become one of the first states to initiate a ground-breaking, dyslexia pilot program that was backed by state legislation. “Act 69 of 2014, the Dyslexia and Early…