Orton-Gillingham Approach

Orton Gillingham Approach is based on the work of Dr. Samuel T. Orton and was developed into a remedial reading program manual by Anna Gillingham and Bessie Stillman. It was first commercially published in 1946. The Orton-Gillingham Approach is considered the first of its kind to implement and popularize the multi-sensory, visual-auditory-kinesthetic (VAK) approach to teaching students with dyslexia to read. The essential components of the program are that it is individualized, multisensory, systematic, logical sequential, and cumulative. Fluency and communication is paramount. Since the inception and refinement of the Orton-Gillingham Approach in the 1920’s and 1930’s, many programs have been developed using these principles, including the Wilson Reading System.

Orton Gillingham Scope and Sequence - Four Levels

Level I Phonograms
Group 1: a b c f h i j k m p t
Group 2: g (goat) o r l n th u ch e s (sun) sh d w wh y (consonant) v z ,
Glued Sounds – all, ing, ong, ang, ung, ink, ank, onk, unk,
Suffixes – s, ine, ed (as “ed” only), Bonus Letters – ff, ll, ss
Concepts – digraphs, blends, short and long vowel sound
Syllable Types – closed (one and two syllables), open syllable, and vowel-consonant-e

Level II Phonograms
Closed syllable exceptions: ind, ild, ost
R controlled sounds: ar, or, ir, er, ur
Double Vowels: ai, ay, ee, ea, oi, oy, oo, ow, ie, ou, Y as a vowel (cry, baby), s /z/ in “nose”
Suffixes – Three sounds of ed (/d/, /ed/, /t/), es, er, est, ly, y, ful, less, ness, en, ment
Prefixes – un, dis, mis, in, non, pre, re
Concepts – diphthong, compound word, base word, present tense, past tense, singular, plural
Syllable Types – R controlled, Double Vowel

Level III Phonograms
Vowel Sounds: ea (bread), ea (steak), oe, c before i,e,y, g before I, e, y, igh, ew, au, aw, ue, y (gym), ou, eu
Additional Sounds: tion, sion
Suffixes – able, ive, si(sion), ti(tion)
Prefixes – anti, con, de, ex, inter, per, pre, pro, semi, sub, super
Latin Roots – cept, dict, duct, fort, ject, port, rupt, sist, spect, vert, flex, fic, fin, gen, mit, pos, plic, scrib, vis
Syllable Types – consonant-le (sample, maple)

Level IV Phonograms
Vowel Sounds: ei, eigh,  ey, ar (beggar), or (doctor), wa (want), u (push, pull), ou (country, cousin)
Silent Letters – wr, kn, gn, mb, gh, stle, ps, pn, alk, ough, augh, Additional Sounds: ch (Christmas), ch (Chicago), ture, ti, si, ci,
Suffixes – ture, ous, al, ic, ure, age, an, able, ible, ate, ite, ine, ology
Prefixes – uni, bi, micro, sy, hyper, hydro, tele, phone, auto
Concepts – Latin “grid” endings (connective + suffix): on, ion, al, ial, tial