5 Ways the KPS Help Structured Literacy Educators
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5 Ways the KPS Help Structured Literacy Educators

The KPS or Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading were developed by the International Dyslexia Association in 2010 and revised in 2018. They represent a list of skills and knowledge necessary to teach literacy to all learners. The KPS help structured literacy educators in a variety of ways. The KPS are divided into five…

Levels of Certification Through The Center for Effective Reading Instruction (CERI)
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Levels of Certification Through The Center for Effective Reading Instruction (CERI)

There are many organizations that offer Orton Gillingham training. In addition, there are trainings in various Orton Gillingham-based programs. It can be difficult for professionals and especially for parents to understand what level of expertise a particular teacher has. The Center for Effective Reading Instruction, or CERI, has created a certification system that clears up…

7 Tips For Helping Students Recognize Patterns In Words
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7 Tips For Helping Students Recognize Patterns In Words

There are several reasons why recognizing patterns in words is difficult for our students with dyslexia. Dyslexia often causes difficulty linking the phonemic analysis with the orthographic patterns. This means that a student not only has difficulty correctly hearing, analyzing, and identifying the separate sounds in a word, but in putting the sequence of letters…

How To Get the Most Out of Your Structured Literacy Professional Development

How To Get the Most Out of Your Structured Literacy Professional Development

If you are anything like me, you love going to conferences and workshops. Although I always wind up physically exhausted, I somehow also find myself energized and my batteries recharged. Professional development has so many wonderful benefits. You may discover a whole new vein of interest and develop a brand-new skill set. You can reignite…

Summer Tutoring Fun: 5 Tips for Orton-Gillingham Tutors
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Summer Tutoring Fun: 5 Tips for Orton-Gillingham Tutors

I am often asked whether I recommend students take the summer off from tutoring. In fact, I recommend quite the opposite. Increasing the amount of time spent on tutoring during a time of more flexible schedules is an excellent opportunity for students to make some real catch-up growth. Typical students without learning difficulties have some…

The Organized Orton-Gillingham Teacher: Part 2
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The Organized Orton-Gillingham Teacher: Part 2

In part 1 of this series, we discussed modeling organization, as an organized Orton-Gillingham teacher, for our students both through our own organized space and in more explicit ways such as how to set up a dictation paper. Organization and executive functioning skills are frequent areas of difficulty for students with dyslexia. By implementing some…

The Organized Orton-Gillingham Teacher: Part One
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The Organized Orton-Gillingham Teacher: Part One

Kids with dyslexia also often struggle with organization. Why? Well, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise to you that many of our students struggle with organizational skills. In addition to affecting reading and writing, dyslexia often impacts working memory and executive functioning skills. Check out this video for a preview of some helpful executive…

When Older Students Need Support with Alphabetic Knowledge
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When Older Students Need Support with Alphabetic Knowledge

When I used to work for public schools, I noticed that assessments like letter identification or letter/sound correspondences were frequently only assessed during Kindergarten and the first half of 1st grade, regardless of whether students ever reached mastery. In most cases, the alphabetical knowledge and sequence were never assessed. When I was completing my Orton-Gillingham…

5 Tips for Supporting Challenged Readers  at Home
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5 Tips for Supporting Challenged Readers at Home

Parenting is full of challenges. Some of these challenges, such as homework, or supporting challenged readers, frequently turn into battles. For kids with reading difficulties, battles over homework and reading logs can be a particular problem. Parents often seek out my tutoring services because of the very unpleasant dynamic that has emerged when they try…

10 Children’s Books to Support Executive Function
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10 Children’s Books to Support Executive Function

In our last post, we talked about the role of executive function and ways that parents can support their students with these important skills. Looking for ideas to support your child’s executive function skills at home? Read 20+ Tips for Supporting Executive Function Skills at Home. Today, we will have a round-up of some wonderful…

20+ Tips for Supporting Executive Function Skills at Home
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20+ Tips for Supporting Executive Function Skills at Home

Executive function refers to a set of brain-based cognitive processes that help us to plan, regulate our behavior, and achieve our goals. Depending on where you look, the number of executive function skills varies considerably. However, executive function skills are related to three main areas: working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. This includes skills such…

Early Literacy Tips to Support Language Development at Home

Early Literacy Tips to Support Language Development at Home

When we talk about language or English Language Arts and dyslexia, we are most often referring to reading and writing. But truly, language encompasses more. When students learn a foreign language, reading, writing, speaking, and listening are the necessary skills. For young children developing their language skills, these are the same categories. In general, speaking…

How is Orton-Gillingham Diagnostic and Prescriptive?

How is Orton-Gillingham Diagnostic and Prescriptive?

All who are trained in Orton-Gillingham have something in common and that is that we follow this specific set of principles of the approach. These principles are the interwoven thread and commonality between everyone trained in Orton-Gillingham.  In a previous post, I covered What does Explicit, Systematic and Sequential Teaching Look Like? All of these…

5 Tips for Ensuring Effective Routines in Orton-Gillingham Lessons
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5 Tips for Ensuring Effective Routines in Orton-Gillingham Lessons

Routines are an important part of Orton-Gillingham instruction for a number of reasons. Time is a precious commodity when working with students with dyslexia. Routines make lessons more efficient. Students know what to expect when there are well-established routines. This reduces stress and anxiety, but also requires less language when transitioning from one activity to…

10 Can’t-Miss Books About Adults with Dyslexia
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10 Can’t-Miss Books About Adults with Dyslexia

As we know, dyslexia is not something you can outgrow. Children with dyslexia become adults with dyslexia. While remediation can decrease the reading gap, there are still certain challenges for adults with dyslexia. It can also provide some benefits. When undiagnosed, dyslexia is particularly damaging to self-esteem and self-concept. Dyslexia in adults may cause slow…

7 Steps for Teaching V/CV Syllable Division
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7 Steps for Teaching V/CV Syllable Division

There are many reasons to teach syllable division rules. Your students need a procedure to help them tackle long multisyllabic words. Mastering syllable division helps your students to access a much wider variety of printed material. The easiest and most common type of syllable division is division between consonants. In this post, we’ll look at…

Meaningful Review in Orton-Gillingham Lessons
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Meaningful Review in Orton-Gillingham Lessons

The very best practitioners make decisions for individual students regarding pacing, repetition, mastery, and review. Your students need meaningful time to review what you have previously taught based on their individual needs. Let me help you plan a meaningful and effective review in Orton-Gillingham lessons. If you are using an Orton Gillingham-based program, you can…

The Importance of Giving Corrective Feedback
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The Importance of Giving Corrective Feedback

When seeking tips for giving corrective feedback, think of the process as a form of on-the-spot, contingent teaching. You, the teacher asks questions, and assess where your child has erred. Then you apply just the right quantity of explicit instruction. This ability to respond to your student needs on the fly is one of the…

Five Misconceptions About A Structured Literacy Approach

Five Misconceptions About A Structured Literacy Approach

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…

Benefits of An Orton Gillingham Teacher Training Practicum
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Benefits of An Orton Gillingham Teacher Training Practicum

The world of Orton-Gillingham teacher training programs can be a bit confusing for those who are new on the scene. Although there are numerous training programs that are based on Orton Gillingham, what is sometimes referred to as “straight Orton Gillingham” is not a program, but a group of principles underlying the practice of teaching…

Taking a Closer Look at Spelling Errors: How a Spelling Assessment Can Inform Your Instruction
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Taking a Closer Look at Spelling Errors: How a Spelling Assessment Can Inform Your Instruction

You will find most teachers of children with dyslexia are not fans of the weekly spelling test. Words arranged by theme or covering multiple spelling patterns is a recipe for failure for many of our students. Other students may manage to learn the words for the Friday spelling test, but not be able to spell…

Part Three: MORE Children’s Books About Dyslexia
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Part Three: MORE Children’s Books About Dyslexia

October is Dyslexia Awareness month. Dyslexia Awareness Month has two big goals. Dyslexia Awareness Month is a great time for people with dyslexia to learn more about their learning difference(s). It is also an opportune time for their family members, friends and classmates to learn more about dyslexia. (This post contains affiliate links.) What better…

The Value of Repeated Practice for Students with Dyslexia
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The Value of Repeated Practice for Students with Dyslexia

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…

Dysgraphia and Developing Readers
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Dysgraphia and Developing Readers

As dyslexia teachers or parents, you understand the struggle many children have surrounding reading. The struggles surrounding writing problems may or may not build on reading difficulties. However, if your students do have trouble reading, they will also have trouble writing. After reading the book, Handwriting Brain Body Disconnect by Cheri Dotterer, I realized how limited my past understanding…

What Does Explicit, Systematic, and Sequential Teaching Look Like?
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What Does Explicit, Systematic, and Sequential Teaching Look Like?

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…

Tips for Starting Your Own Orton-Gillingham Tutoring Business
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Tips for Starting Your Own Orton-Gillingham Tutoring Business

You may have been thinking about starting your own Orton-Gillingham tutoring business, but you’re not really sure. Where do you even begin? Students who need Orton-Gillingham services are not always able to access them in their school or homeschooling setting, so we need your private services now more than ever! Enjoy this guest post by…

How To Help Younger Students Build Phonemic Awareness Skills

How To Help Younger Students Build Phonemic Awareness Skills

Phonemic awareness might be one of the most important, most talked about, and most misunderstood aspects of literacy. Some of that confusion stems from the similarities and differences between phonological and phonemic Awareness. They are very much related, but not interchangeable. If Phonological Awareness is an umbrella that covers skills, those skills include hearing words…

The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide: 12 Great Learning Games Your Kids Will Love
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The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide: 12 Great Learning Games Your Kids Will Love

It is hard to believe that the holiday season is here! Many families have rediscovered the fun of family game night. From board games to card games to jigsaw puzzles, the joy of offline fun has helped to bring families together. Not only are games fun, but they can also be educational. If you are…

Checking for Mastery In Orton-Gillingham Lessons
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Checking for Mastery In Orton-Gillingham Lessons

Teaching to mastery is one of the most important considerations when teaching your students with dyslexia. Striving readers and writers very often find the class and instruction moving forward before they have had a chance to master new concepts. This results in learning gaps. When I encountered this in pupils at school, I would describe…

The Top 5 Reasons You Should Use Decodable Text With Your Students
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The Top 5 Reasons You Should Use Decodable Text With Your Students

One thing that I find myself frequently explaining to parents, students, and other teachers is the rationale for using decodable texts. Students are accustomed to using leveled texts in their classrooms and in many school-based interventions that follow and balanced literacy model of instruction. While engaging, there are important reasons why decodable text can be…

How to Teach Schwa Vowels Part 2: Tips for Teaching Other Schwa Vowels

How to Teach Schwa Vowels Part 2: Tips for Teaching Other Schwa Vowels

In Part 1 of Teaching Schwa Vowels, we talked about strategies for learning schwa a. Schwa a is a great place to introduce the schwa vowel because it is predictable in its location and spelling. In addition, this post offers a lot of suggestions about teaching children about accent and stress which is a necessary…

Ways To Support Children with Dyslexia During Distance Learning
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Ways To Support Children with Dyslexia During Distance Learning

During these strange times we live in, many of us are wearing multiple hats. Parent, employee, teacher, student, educational guide. If your child is doing hybrid or remote schooling, then it is highly likely that some adult in your household is overseeing your child’s learning. For children with dyslexia and accompanying challenges, this style of…

Back to School Tips for Structured Literacy Teachers
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Back to School Tips for Structured Literacy Teachers

Late summer means cooler evenings, and back to school. Even for the most seasoned teachers, back to school this year presents many new challenges. Nerves and uncertainty dull the shine of freshly sharpened pencils and new sneakers. The excitement of seeing friends is confused by social distancing requirements, separated cohorts, and face coverings. And holding…

How to Explain Multisensory Instruction to Families
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How to Explain Multisensory Instruction to Families

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”…

8 Websites With Summer Reading Ideas For Struggling Readers
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8 Websites With Summer Reading Ideas For Struggling Readers

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…

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How to Keep Active Students Engaged During Distance Learning Sessions

During these challenging times, you may be adjusting to distance learning. You may be learning how to teach virtually and communicate through a technological intermediary. In addition to the learning curve, there are additional factors that make online learning challenging for you and your students. The increased screen time for many children can be overstimulating….

How To Keep Your Orton-Gillingham Lessons Multisensory When Tutoring Online
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How To Keep Your Orton-Gillingham Lessons Multisensory When Tutoring Online

Multisensory teaching is a key element of instruction for students with dyslexia. Orton Gillingham has become synonymous with multisensory instruction, but let’s review what multisensory actually means. Multisensory teaching engages multiple senses for the student to support their learning. Ideally, this would involve the senses of sight, hearing and touch or movement. When I am…

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Practical Tips for Orton-Gillingham Lessons When Tutoring Online

We are certainly living in challenging times right now. For our students with dyslexia, the specialized instruction they get through Orton-Gillingham lessons is extra important. Many students may not be getting the literacy support throughout their day that they would in a school setting. With a little creativity and flexibility, it is possible to deliver…

Top Tips for Helping Children Distinguish Between Short and Long Vowel Sounds

Top Tips for Helping Children Distinguish Between Short and Long Vowel Sounds

  One question that comes up in discussion among OG colleagues more than just about anything else is about students that are having difficulty distinguishing vowel sounds. Sometimes they struggle with two similar short vowel sounds. Sometimes they have difficulty distinguishing between short and long vowel sounds. We are always looking to add to our…

The Best Decodable Books and Decodable Passage Resources
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The Best Decodable Books and Decodable Passage Resources

If there is one thing Orton-Gillingham teachers can never have enough of, it is decodable text. Finding books that are highly decodable, engaging for our students and suitable for a wide variety of ages is challenging. Differences in scopes and sequences further complicate matters. However, there are some resources that I turn to again and…

A Structured Literacy Approach: How to Help Your School With Making The Transition
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A Structured Literacy Approach: How to Help Your School With Making The Transition

One challenge that structured literacy practitioners face in their work is isolation and frustration with how to share their knowledge in a way that will be well received. While this is a bigger challenge for those working in a school setting, the issue may also arise for those in private practice when communicating with other…

7 Techniques for Building Independence During Orton-Gillingham Lesson
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7 Techniques for Building Independence During Orton-Gillingham Lesson

7 techniques to build independence during the Orton-Gillingham lesson. By keeping your focus on promoting independence, it encourages the gradual release of responsibility. This is a developmentally appropriate way to teach. Building independence during the Orton-Gillingham lesson shows children they can have a sense of ownership and control over their work. This is meaningful for…

A Phoneme, A Grapheme, A Morpheme: What’s the Difference?

A Phoneme, A Grapheme, A Morpheme: What’s the Difference?

What’s the difference between a phoneme, a grapheme, a morpheme? The science of teaching reading can sound like a foreign language, especially when you are first learning about Orton-Gillingham or Structured Literacy instruction. While you will likely be talking about digraphs and trigraphs, and blends before you know it, some of the specialized vocabulary can…

Becoming A Structured Literacy Interventionist Using The Orton-Gillingham Approach
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Becoming A Structured Literacy Interventionist Using The Orton-Gillingham Approach

The road you take to become a structured literacy interventionist can take many twists and turns throughout your career. Who I am today is certainly not the young, impressionable twenty-two-year-old in her first year of teaching back in 2000. If I could talk to that young teacher now, I would definitely have some advice to…

Orton-Gillingham Lesson Plans: Tips for Word Lists
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Orton-Gillingham Lesson Plans: Tips for Word Lists

When you’re in the middle of Orton-Gillingham training, you learn how to write lesson plans for your students. Part of writing an effective Orton-Gillingham lesson plan is to create a word list.  The words you select must be appropriate for reading and spelling. By appropriate, I mean you are choosing words that suit the needs…

Spelling Choices for Long O: Tips for Teaching this Spelling Generalization
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Spelling Choices for Long O: Tips for Teaching this Spelling Generalization

Some spelling considerations are less about clear rules to follow than frequency and expectations. Such is the case for spelling the long o sound. O-e is the most common spelling for the long o sound in the middle of a word, but oa isn’t far behind. Ow is the most common way to spell the…

Explicit Instruction of Comprehension Strategies for Struggling Readers

Explicit Instruction of Comprehension Strategies for Struggling Readers

There are a variety of reasons why students struggle to develop reading and writing skills, and many of these students need explicit instruction in foundational skills such as phonics for decoding and spelling, automatic fluent reading skills, and basic text structures. However, the ultimate goal of reading is to comprehend, which is why teachers can’t…

The FLOSS Rule: Tips for Teaching This Spelling Generalization
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The FLOSS Rule: Tips for Teaching This Spelling Generalization

Some of the most powerful tools we teach our Orton-Gillingham students are spelling generalizations. These generalizations help them choose the correct spelling option. Most adults are not even aware of these “rules”, because, with increased familiarity with the orthography of English, one develops an awareness of what “looks right”. One way we can help our…

Effective Decoding Strategies To Improve Reading
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Effective Decoding Strategies To Improve Reading

      Many teachers are familiar with decoding strategies that may emphasize the use of picture clues, meaning and self-monitoring. Sometimes these decoding activities are even given cute nicknames to help students remember.    While we want students to monitor our students and their reading for accuracy to make sure it makes sense, often…

What to Do (and NOT Do) if Your Child is Struggling with Reading and You Suspect Dyslexia
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What to Do (and NOT Do) if Your Child is Struggling with Reading and You Suspect Dyslexia

Does your child struggle with reading? It could be dyslexia. If this sounds like you, you may be suspecting dyslexia. Dyslexia is the most common reading disability and occurs along a spectrum of severity. But if you have that suspicion, what should you do next? This blog post will give you tips on what to…

Online Supplemental Resources To Support The Big Five In The National Reading Panel
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Online Supplemental Resources To Support The Big Five In The National Reading Panel

   Please welcome, Lorna Wooldridge as my guest blogger!    In a recent blog I wrote for the Orton-Gillingham Online Academy (OGOA) on “The National Reading Panel and The Big Five”, I explained what exactly “The Big Five” are, and why they are so important for reading. I plan to blog extensively about each one…

Seven Tips for Success When Starting with New Orton-Gillingham Students
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Seven Tips for Success When Starting with New Orton-Gillingham Students

 7 Tips for Getting Off to a Great Start with a New Student When parents come to me seeking help for their child, very often it is the child’s emotional well-being that has been the final catalyst to seek tutoring. Struggling readers often begin to think of themselves as “stupid” and their overall self-confidence and…

How To Explain Orton-Gillingham to Families
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How To Explain Orton-Gillingham to Families

Explaining Orton-Gillingham to families isn’t always easy. It can be a challenge to avoid using a lot of technical language and jargon when talking about dyslexia and the parts of an Orton-Gillingham lesson. Many times, parents seeking tutoring services are told their child should receive Orton-Gillingham instruction or sometimes a specific O-G-based program. However, they’re…

Multisensory Teaching Techniques in the Classroom
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Multisensory Teaching Techniques in the Classroom

  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.  …

Multisensory Teaching Strategies in the Classroom: Part One
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Multisensory Teaching Strategies in the Classroom: Part One

    Multisensory Teaching Strategies in the Classroom   Part One: Using Multisensory Teaching Techniques Multisensory teaching is not just crucial 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…

How to Write Effective Orton-Gillingham Progress Reports
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How to Write Effective Orton-Gillingham Progress Reports

Tips for Sharing Orton-Gillingham Progress Reports with Parents Whether you are working in private practice as an Orton-Gillingham tutor or working with students in a classroom or school setting, sharing information about a student’s progress is an important part of our work. Orton-Gillingham progress reports are one way to do that. When it comes to…

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Building an Understanding of Homophones

    Building an Understanding of Homophones   Soon after introducing the first vowel teams, the need to discuss homophones rears its head. This can be challenging for struggling readers during Orton-Gillingham lesson plans, and especially for ELLs, or English Language Learners. Homonyms and homophones are frequently confused and the words used interchangeably, but there…

Tips For Error Correction in Your Orton-Gillingham Lessons
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Tips For Error Correction in Your Orton-Gillingham Lessons

Part of being a successful Orton-Gillingham teacher or tutor means being prescriptive. This means you tailor your Orton-Gillingham lessons and plans to meet the specific needs of your struggling readers. Just as important as being prescriptive is being diagnostic. This means that based on a student’s performance within a particular task, you are able to…

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Those Tricky Short I and Short E Sounds: 7 Tips for Helping Your Student Master Short Vowel Sounds

  7 Tips for Helping Your Student Master Short Vowel Sounds   Those Tricky Short I and Short E Sounds! One of the very first things students need to master also happens to be one of the most difficult for many of them, the short vowel sounds. Short vowels are introduced very early in level…

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The Top 6 Tips For Helping Children Blend Sounds

  When a Student Finds It Hard to Blend Sounds Together: 6 Tips for Getting Over the Hump   While very often, things go along quite swimmingly in the Orton-Gillingham lesson plan, from time to time we all have a student that has particular difficulty blending sounds together. They know their letters and can correctly…

The Essential Reading List for Orton-Gillingham Teachers and Tutors

  Today, I am providing you with a list of professional books that are truly invaluable if you teach reading. Whether you are just starting out on your journey with writing Orton-Gillingham lesson plans, in the middle of a practicum, starting a private practice, working in an elementary school, or a seasoned educator who’s used…

5 Fun and Easy Ways to Practice Spelling Generalizations

        5 Fun and Easy Ways to Practice Spelling Generalizations When you are working with children in Orton-Gillingham lessons or other reading interventions, there is often a big discrepancy between our students’ proficiency with understanding a spelling generalization and their proficiency with the application of that spelling generalization. It takes a lot…

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6 Tips for Introducing Dyslexia to Your Child in a Positive Way

6 Tips for Introducing Dyslexia to Your Child in a Positive Way         I am so thrilled to have Amy share tips for dyslexia advocacy with you today. Thank you so much Amy, from Mamabearmoms.com for sharing your expertise!  When parents think about dyslexia, they tend to focus on the negative because, let’s face…

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How To Run A Successful Dyslexia Pilot Program

    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…

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What Does An Orton-Gillingham Lesson Look Like?

What Does an Orton-Gillingham Lesson Look Like? If you were to observe an Orton-Gillingham lesson such as Wilson, SPIRE or Barton, they would have similarities, but also plenty of differences. The same is true of a non-program-specific Orton-Gillingham lesson plan that follows the Orton-Gillingham approach. The exact lesson sequence may differ depending on where the teacher was…

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12 MORE Children’s Books About Dyslexia You Can’t Miss

Dyslexia awareness goes on all year long. It HAS to. Last month I published a post with 12 books with dyslexic characters you can’t miss for Dyslexia Awareness Month. There was a huge response! So I started digging even deeper. I thought, “Emily, you have to do a second list.” So I did! (This post contains affiliate links.)Here,…

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6 More Picture Books (Plus some sequels) for Building Phonological Awareness

    Not too long ago, I shared 6 of my favorite read aloud books to promote phonological awareness. I promised that there would be even more to come. Here they are! Not only are these great books for building phonemic awareness, but several of them have sequels that have similar structures and can be…

The Top Six Repurposed Games and Ideas For Literacy Practice
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The Top Six Repurposed Games and Ideas For Literacy Practice

  The Top 6 Types of Repurposed Games: From Precision to Super Silliness No one knows quite how to breathe new life into something old quite like a teacher. Since Orton-Gillingham students require extensive practice to reach mastery of the concepts being taught, one of the best ways to practice is to incorporate lots of…

12 Children’s Books With Dyslexic Characters You Can’t Miss
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12 Children’s Books With Dyslexic Characters You Can’t Miss

Children’s Books With Dyslexic Characters     (This post contains affiliate links.) Raise a hand if you know someone with dyslexia. You should have your hand up by now. It’s Dyslexia Awareness Month and I am all about spreading awareness! If you love children’s book as much as I do, you know how important it…

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The Top 6 Picture Books For Building Phonological Awareness

The Top 6 Picture Books For Building Phonological Awareness  (This post contains affiliate links.) building phonological awareness can happen anywhere at anytime. We know that beneath the umbrella term, phonological awareness, phonemic awareness is the most important skill to work on for early reading success. Struggling readers may have poor phonological awareness; therefore, it is…

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Top Five Tips For Communicating With Families of Children With Dyslexia

      The Top Five Tips For Communicating With Families of Children With Dyslexia Imagine you are a parent who has a meeting with her child’s teacher. Arriving at the school, she arrives in the office five minutes early for the appointment. The secretary directs her to sign in and take a seat. Suddenly,…

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Managing Challenging Behaviors in the Orton-Gillingham Lesson: 5 Tips to Decrease Problems

  Managing Challenging Behaviors in the Orton-Gillingham Lesson: 5 Tips to Decrease Problems   Whether you are working in a mainstream classroom, in small groups or in a one-on-one tutoring situation, you are bound to encounter the occasional behavior issue. When choosing which techniques to best help a particular situation, I find it helpful to…

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“The only award I’ll ever get is perfect attendance, and I even messed that up.” Why Recognition Really DOES Matter

  You might have noticed or read a few stories in the news about offensive awards given out to students with learning challenges lately. A trophy was actually handed out in an assembly to a middle schooler with ADHD that was labeled, “Least likely to pay attention.” The teachers responsible for curating the so-called “award”…

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How To Incorporate Movement Into Orton-Gillingham Lessons

Everyone needs movement in their life, am I right? For me personally, I love my Zumba classes or just dancing with my kids in the kitchen. Kids need to MOVE. Brain breaks have become increasingly important in classrooms as we have even more demands. I’m finding as a dyslexia practitioner using the Orton-Gillingham approach in…

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Seven Things Parents Would Like Their Child’s Pediatrician To Know About Dyslexia

Seven things parents would like their child’s pediatrician to understand about dyslexia You trust your pediatrician with your child and for most things, they are the best resource. They can tell you if your child is growing well, if their diet is healthy, and they are there when injuries or accidents occur. Sometimes, however, there…

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Taming the Fly-aways: Weaving Review into Orton-Gillingham Tutoring

As a teacher and tutor using the Orton-Gillingham approach, I am always looking for ways to improve my instruction. Meeting with other teachers and tutors online has truly been a valuable experience when it comes to planning my Orton-Gillingham lessons. Did you know I run a private Facebook book for trained O.G. teachers and tutors?…

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5 Steps You Should Take to Help Your Dyslexic Child Thrive

(This post contains affiliate links.)    Hello everyone! As a teacher working with children with dyslexia, I grow a special bond with each child I work with as the years pass. It’s a unique relationship when you use the Orton-Gillingham approach. I learn a great deal about each child through the teacher lens, but it’s…

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Five Ways to Celebrate Progress And Success With Struggling Readers

If you have a child or work with children who struggles with reading on a daily basis, you know what a battle it can feel like. As an Orton-Gillingham teacher who uses the Orton-Gillingham approach, I sometimes see progress in small increments, instead of leaps and bounds. Guess what? I’m OK with that. Growth might…

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Three Simple Tips for Working With Kids In A 1:1 Setting

Hi everyone! I’m sharing three tips for working with kids in a 1:1 setting today. Seems like a pretty easy topic, but it’s important. I look at different pictures of teachers in classrooms working with students,  and I’m often taken back to the days my supervisor would come during my Orton-Gillingham practicum and observe my…

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Three Literacy Tips Related to Multisensory Teaching

(This post contains affiliate links.)Hi everyone! It’s back to school time and I’m sure you’re busy getting all your classrooms prepared and supplies organized. I work with students all year round, but I certainly use the BTS season to rethink some of my teaching strategies, purchase new materials and set a plan to help my…

Starting Orton-Gillingham: How To Find A Starting Point With This Approach
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Starting Orton-Gillingham: How To Find A Starting Point With This Approach

Hi Everyone! I’m going to walk you through a tricky part of planning your Orton-Gillingham lessons today: finding a starting point. As a teacher or tutor using the Orton-Gillingham lesson plans, you want to make the best choice for your student, but that means gathering some pieces of the puzzle that show who they are as a…

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Help! I’m Heading To My First Orton-Gillingham Training Session Tomorrow! ~Tips for Newbies~

I received a message from a fellow teacher a few days ago. She was getting ready to attend her first Orton-Gillingham training session, and asking what supplies to pack in her bag. I was instantly transported back to when I first started. Those nostalgic thoughts of nervousness, excitement and the “Yikes! Can I really do…

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Building Phonemic Awareness For Struggling Readers

(This post uses affiliate links.) Hi everyone! As an Orton-Gillingham teacher who works with children with dyslexia, I know first hand how they struggle with phonological awareness. Under the umbrella term called phonological awareness, we have a very important early reader offshoot- phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is a critical early reading indicator. What Is Phonemic…

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What’s In My Orton-Gillingham File Folder?

          (This post uses affiliate links.)   Hi everyone! I’m back with some tips for using Orton-Gillingham materials. You’ve made a big investment and want to implement them well. You may notice that the volume of printable materials needed really does a number on your ink supply. Or perhaps there are…

When You’re Stuck Trying To Find Appropriate Orton-Gillingham Reading Passages…
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When You’re Stuck Trying To Find Appropriate Orton-Gillingham Reading Passages…

I’m here to talk about finding reading passages for your Orton-Gillingham lessons or reading intervention groups. It’s one we all grapple with, am I right? We spend hours pouring through scads of Orton-Gillingham resources and books looking for decodable text, but sometimes fall short. Why does this happen? Orton-Gillingham lesson plans follow a fairly strict…

Using Quick Comprehension Checks In Class or For Distance Learning
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Using Quick Comprehension Checks In Class or For Distance Learning

Hi everyone! I’m here today to chat about reading comprehension. We teachers are always searching for ways to check assess a students’ comprehension of a particular book or passage. You may be considering the following: What materials do I use with my students? Is the assessment tool I’m using appropriate for their level? How do…

I Just Finished My OG Training… Now What? Part One: Organizing Teacher Materials
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I Just Finished My OG Training… Now What? Part One: Organizing Teacher Materials

This post about organizing teacher materials contains affiliate links. Have you just finished your OG training or you’re in the middle of a program? Then this series is for you! I’ve spent the past month chatting with fellow Orton-Gillingham-trained teachers and compiled some tips for you to use right away. I’m going to break this…

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Taking A Crack At Spelling: Multi-Sensory Spelling Strategies

Hi everyone! We all need a little motivation from time to time, don’t we? What tasks sometimes feel tedious to you? (Don’t even ask me about laundry.) Now try to imagine challenges your students face when learning. What helps them sustain and persevere? After a great conversation with my fellow OG teachers the other day,…

Educents Launch 4/2/15

Have you heard the news!? Educents is opening their MARKETPLACE! What does that mean? That means that besides the already AMAZING deals they offer on a daily basis, you can now purchase items from sellers stores, also on a daily basis! WHAT!? That’s right! Over 500 sellers have already created stores in the Educents Marketplace,…