What is the Orton-Gillingham (OG) approach?
The OG approach is an intensive, sequential phonics-based system that teaches the basics of word formation before whole meanings. The approach accommodates and utilizes the three learning modalities, or pathways, through which people learn—visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Unlike some scripted and rigid reading programs, the OG approach allows for flexibility based on the learning capability of each student. It can be used to advance confidence and skills in reading across all levels—from emerging readers to independent readers.
“In my many years of teaching, I have never found a reading program as successful as OG, especially with struggling readers. It breaks down words not only phonologically, but by patterns. It uses strategies that explain why certain words are not only read a certain way, but why they are spelled the way they are. Also, it can be used with older children to improve their vocabulary. It helps teach Latin and Greek root words that are so important when trying to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.”
—Ms. Scott, Montgomery Special Education teacher
Who has been trained in the OG approach at Montgomery?
By the end of the 2018-19 school year, over 34 Montgomery teachers (K-5th) will have been trained in the OG approach! Most of the teachers who received the training, did so via the financial support of the Mustang Fund.