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VCCV words are usually the first ones you teach in your Orton-Gillingham lesson plans. These word lists are a bit easier for students because you’ve already taught closed syllables. You may even refer to these words as Rabbit Rule words. Today, I will discuss a fun way to make learning VCCV words a bit more…
If you are a dyslexia specialist or educational advocates for your students with dyslexia, you may be facing an uphill battle. Trying to encourage structured literacy changes to classroom instruction can sometimes be a challenge/. There is bountiful scientific evidence supporting a structured literacy approach as part of the regular Tier 1 curriculum. However, the…
Tyler’s classroom teacher shows you his latest writing assignment. He scored 100% on his latest posttest on structured literacy concepts, but his writing sample is full of errors. Despite all the practice on the k/ck spelling rule, he has not applied it here even once. You pop into Camryn’s classroom during reading time and despite…
For many years, those of us who work with striving readers and writers have known that certain strategies or techniques, like repeated practice, are effective, but we haven’t really been able to tell WHY. We’ve known that students with dyslexia often have a pattern of areas of weakness in their psychological testing. We have theories…
What are nonsense words? Nonsense words are words that follow the patterns and rules of English, but are not actual words. Just like real words, nonsense words must contain a vowel, use real vowel patterns or consonant blends. For example, crob could be a nonsense word, but xzyml could not. By using the sounds of…
I’m digging into specific principles of the Orton-Gillingham approach. Three words are key to describing some of the principles that define Orton-Gillingham. Instruction is explicit, systematic, and sequential. While these principles are crucial for your students with dyslexia or learning challenges, they also constitute powerful teaching for most of your learners. In another post, I…
As teachers and tutors, you know that we must go beyond helping our students learn to decode and read fluently. Comprehension is the end goal for all of the instruction and practice that we provide. BUT how do you know WHAT and HOW to teach in order to help our students improve in this…
When you’re the parent of a child with a diagnosis like dyslexia, everything can feel overwhelming. Relief over finally having answers and a plan for helping your child can swiftly turn into a feeling of being unprepared. Parents often find themselves faced with an abundance of new information, unfamiliar terms in both legalese and “teacherese”…
With summer break quickly approaching, it’s time to take a look at the dangers of the “summer slide”. The summer slide is a term used to describe the learning loss that occurs during the summer vacation. Struggling students are particularly at risk of losing ground in their quest to become fluent readers. The statistics are…