What are Orton Gillingham workbooks?

Orton Gillingham workbooks use the Orton Gillingham approach to give students extra practice with phonemic awareness, phonics, and word pattern skills. They typically follow a structured, multi-sensory approach, while engaging the student and giving them ample practice and repetition with concepts taught.

What is an example of Orton Gillingham workbooks?

The Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbooks follow the Orton Gillingham technique for helping students develop stronger decoding and spelling skills. The workbook program starts with phonemic awareness, a key skill area for reading success. Phonemic awareness skills include rhyming, manipulating sounds, and identifying syllables. Using these Orton Gillingham workbooks, students later learn consonant and short vowel letters and their corresponding sounds with the Flags and Stars Consonants and Short Vowels Orton Gillingham workbook. In this workbook, students learn how to properly form each letter when writing, as well as how to blend sounds together to form basic consonant-vowel-consonant words. This Orton Gillingham workbook works in groups of five letters at a time: four consonants and one short vowel.

Higher level Orton Gillingham concepts

Once students have mastered reading and spelling words with consonants and short vowels, they can move onto words with blends using the Flags and Stars Blends Orton Gillingham workbook. With this workbook, students learn to read and spell these types of words using a multi-sensory approach.

With the Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbooks, students then move on to learning how to read and spell words containing consonant digraphs, vowel digraphs, silent e patterns, multi-syllabic word patterns, prefixes, and roots. Words with consonant digraphs include:

• black
• song
• ship
• patch

Words with vowel digraphs include:

•  boat
• teeth
• peach
• pail

Words with silent e patterns include:

• make
• bike
• time
• phone

Words with multi-syllabic word patterns include:

• cupcake
• rainbow
• rabbit
• triplet

Words with prefixes include:

•  unable
• impossible
• overcook
• underneath

Words with roots include:

• geography
• aquarium
• automatic
• reject

The Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbooks cover these concepts and follow a multi-sensory approach, which integrates the visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic modalities. With Orton Gillingham workbooks, students use tools such as colored sand, magnetic tiles, shaving cream, and whiteboards. They love this engaging, effective technique. A sample lesson from an Orton Gillingham workbook that focuses on consonants and short vowels might be as follows:

Sample Orton Gillingham Lesson

When teaching sound/letter relationships using an Orton Gillingham workbook, the Orton Gillingham tutor might hold up a flashcard with the letter “a” written on the front of it and a picture of an apple on the back. The tutor would say to the student, “This is the letter a, like apple, it makes the sound /a/.” The student would then say that language together with the tutor and then repeat it back independently. Then the Orton Gillingham tutor might take out a tray of sand and explain to the student that when we write the lower case letter a, we say aloud, “around, up, and down.” The tutor writes the letter first in the sand while saying this language aloud. Then the student writes the letter in the sand with the tutor and subsequently writes the letter independently in the sand. Next, the tutor might move onto sky writing and trace the letter in the sky, saying aloud “around, up, and down” while using gross motor muscles to write the letter a in the sky. Then the student writes the letter in the sky with the tutor, and finally independently in the sky.

Read more about the Orton Gillingham approach at The Orton Gillingham Approach – EBL Coaching

Additional Practice with Orton Gillingham Workbooks

Using Orton Gillingham workbooks, the tutor might work on blending exercises with the student, where the student blends sounds together to form words. For example, the tutor might use flash cards or magnetic tiles to show the letters “c”, “a”, and “t”, as long as the tutor has already taught those sound/symbol relationships using Orton
Gillingham workbooks and asks the student to blend those sounds together to form the word “cat.” They might do the same exercise for the letters “b”, “i”, “g” to form big, or “m”, “u”, “g” to form mug. These multi-sensory activities using Orton Gillingham workbooks can help students develop strong foundational reading skills.

Do you feel your child would benefit from Orton Gillingham tutoring? We can help them! Contact us at www.eblcoaching.com to learn more about our one-on-one tutoring programs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Orton Gillingham workbooks?
Orton Gillingham materials area workbooks that offer reinforcement of Orton Gillingham concepts often covered during Orton Gillingham tutoring lessons. They use a multi-sensory approach to help students develop their phonemic awareness, decoding, spelling, and reading fluency skills.

Are Orton Gillingham workbooks effective for students with dyslexia?
Yes! The Orton Gillingham approach was originally created to help students with dyslexia develop their core reading and spelling skills. However, all students who struggle with reading can benefit from Orton Gillingham workbooks and Orton Gillingham tutoring,

What skills do students learn in Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbooks?
With the Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbooks, students learn the following Orton Gillingham concepts:

• Phonemic awareness
• Consonant and short vowel letter names and sounds
• Blends
• Consonant and vowel digraphs
• Silent e patterns
• Multi-syllabic word patterns
• Prefixes
• Roots

The structured, sequential, multi-sensory approach used in Orton Gillingham tutoring sessions can help students drastically improve their reading and spelling skills.

Learn more about the Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbooks at Workbook series designed to build independent study skills (eblcoaching.com)

Read more about helping students with learning disabilities at www.ldonline.org.

The post Can Orton Gillingham Workbooks Help Struggling Readers? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

For some students, learning to read comes naturally. Through exposure to language and books, they figure out how to combine sounds to form words and recognize key sight words. Other students need a systematic approach for learning sound-letter relationships and blending.  Whether your child ultimately learns to read naturally or with a structured approach, performing exercises with him to develop strong reading readiness skills can set the stage for reading success. Try the activities below, and remember to keep them playful, fun, and engaging.

Story Telling

Reading books and stories aloud to your child can help foster a joy for reading while building  comprehension, vocabulary, listening, and fluency skills. As you read to your child, be sure to ask questions before, during, and after you read. Look at the cover together and ask him to make predictions about what he thinks the book will be about. While reading, ask questions about the plot, characters, and events that might happen next. You can also help your child connect the story to items or events in his life. For example, if there is a puppy in the book, ask if he thinks the puppy in the story looks or acts like his own. If a character in the story feels scared, ask if he’s ever felt that way and, if so, have him elaborate on those feelings. Encouraging him to articulate these connections between the plot and his own life will build comprehension, memory, and oral language skills.

Phonemic Awareness: Rhyming, Sounds, Words, and Syllables

Phonemic Awareness is the ability to hear, recognize, and manipulate sounds in words, and is a strong predictor of future reading success. Activities that involve rhyming, recognizing initial and final sounds, identifying words and syllables, and manipulating sounds all help build strong phonemic awareness skills. Try some of the exercises below to help strengthen these key reading readiness skills.

Rhyming

Help your child build stronger rhyming skills with a “Do These Words Rhyme?” game. To play, ask your child whether certain words rhyme, and track points for correct answers. For example, ask, “Does ‘man’ rhyme with ‘can’?” “Does ‘horse’ rhyme with ‘nose’?” “Does ‘feet’ rhyme with ‘foot’?” and so on.  If he answers correctly, he receives a point. He can then ask you (or another player) similar rhyming questions. The first player to earn 10 points wins.

You can also create a game of Memory using words that rhyme. To do so, draw pictures of various objects on flashcards– a dog, sun, bone, log, phone, etc. (one per card). Place the cards upside down on a table. The first player flips over two cards. If the words rhyme, the player made a match. If not, that player turns the cards back down. ‎Then the next player flips over two cards, and so on. The player who makes the most rhyming matches wins.

Initial and Final Sounds

Learning to recognize sounds in words is a key component of reading readiness. Engage your child in an initial and final sounds game to reinforce this skill. To play, ask your child to tell you the first sound he hears in a given word. For example, ask him to tell you the first sound he hears in pizza (/p/), rug (/r/), or chair (/ch/). If he answers correctly, he receives a point. Next, have him dictate his own words to you (or another player) and you tell him the initial sound. The first player to receive 10 points wins. You can play a similar game with final sounds. For example, ask him to tell you the final sound he hears in the word clap (/p/), door (/r/), push (/sh/), and so on.

Words and Syllables

Play a clapping game with your child to teach him to identify words in sentences and syllables in words– another important reading readiness skill. To do so, read various sentences to your child and ask him to repeat the sentence back to you while clapping one time for each word. For example, for the sentence “Clean your room” he would clap three times, once for each word. For “Eat your green apple” he would clap four times, for “Don’t forget to bring home your book” he would clap seven times, and so on. Similarly, to practice syllable identification, you can read various words to your child and have him clap one time for each syllable in the word. For example, he would clap two times for donut, four times for alligator, and three times for calendar. You can also play these games using counting chips as manipulatives instead of clapping. For each word in a sentence or for each syllable in a word, your child would place down one counting chip.

Songs

Singing songs to your child can help build vocabulary, listening, comprehension, rhyming, and sound discrimination skills, amongst other reading readiness skills. Sing songs to your child that include patterns and rhymes, such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Yankee Doodle. Rather than just singing the melody, ask your child questions about the words and stimulate discussions about the lyrics. For example, you can ask your child what a “water spout” is in Itsy Bitsy Spider or what a “dell” is in Farmer in the Dell, and explain the definitions if he doesn’t know them. Integrating discussions and activities into singing songs can help further develop language and pre-reading skills.

Be sure to keep these exercises fun, playful, and engaging. In doing so, your child will enjoy the process and develop a true zest for learning. Practicing these games and activities will ultimately make him a strong, confident, and successful reader.

The post How to Boost Your Child’s Reading Readiness Skills appeared first on EBL Coaching.

It’s a typical Thursday evening. You’re exhausted from a long day at work and are ready to settle in with a glass of wine and Netflix. Instead, you’re acting as the ringmaster at a circus—at least that’s what it feels like. Preparing a healthy dinner for your kids is no easy feat when the five-year-old has decided to give herself a haircut and your preschooler is creating an artistic masterpiece with permanent marker on his own pants.

You know it’s not good to let your kids stare at the TV for hours each day, but sometimes a half hour here or there is all you need to get dinner on the table and keep your sanity intact. TheAmerican Academy of Pediatrics approves of limited screen time for children over age two as long as they’re viewing “high-quality content.”

But what is “high-quality” content? How do you know which children’s TV shows are educational? Don’t let your kids watch just anything. We connected with industry expert Dr. Emily Levy, director of specialized tutoring program EBL Coaching, to find out which children’s TV shows make the grade.

6 entertaining & educational children’s TV shows

1. Sesame Street

What it is: Everyone’s favorite Muppets gather on Sesame Street to send positive messages to kids, introduce children to other cultures and encourage early learning skills in math, literacy and science.

Why it’s great: “There’s a reason this show has been around since 1969!” Levy says. “Research indicates that Sesame Street has a positive impact on children’s learning, including cognitive development, understanding the world and building social skills.”

Where to watch: Sesame Street still airs regularly on PBS Kids—click here to find listings near you. Your kids can also get their Sesame Street fix on their YouTube channel or streaming on Hulu.

2. Super WHY!

What it is: Four friends solve problems in their daily lives using each of their unique literacy superpowers: Alphabet power, word power, spelling power and reading power.

Why it’s great: “This program is great for building phonemic awareness and early reading skills. Through watching the characters’ adventures, children strengthen their vocabulary, decoding, spelling and comprehension skills,” Levy explains.

Where to watch: You can find Super WHY! on PBS Kids. Episodes are also available to purchase and stream through Amazon Instant Video.

3. Sid the Science Kid

What it is: Sid and his friends investigate scientific problems, like “Why do bananas get mushy?” and “Why are my shoes shrinking?” Your little ones will love laughing along with Sid as he uses humor to pique their interest in science.

Why it’s great: “Sid engages children in the world of science, presenting content in story form that’s enjoyable and easy to understand for preschool-aged children,” Levy says. Parents can build on the show’s science themes through discussions and books.

Where to watch: Catch full episodes and short clips at PBS.com, or check your local listings for air times.

4. WordWorld

What it is: Seven WordFriends—animals whose bodies are made up of the letters that form their names—experience adventures in WordWorld, solving problems along the way.

Why it’s great: WordWorld “helps children visually connect letters with words and pictures” while also introducing kids to important social skills like honesty and respect, according to Levy.

Where to watch: WordWorld is no longer airing new episodes, but you can find out when reruns are airing here. It’s also available for streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime.

5. Dora the Explorer

What it is: This show chronicles the adventures of the bilingual Dora and her monkey pal, Boots, as they solve problems and achieve goals.

Why it’s great: “The show integrates educational concepts including counting, riddles and puzzles, along with Spanish vocabulary words and customs,” Levy says. Dora isn’t just about classroom knowledge; it also teaches children how to care for and respect others.

Where to watch: Check this schedule to see when Dora is airing on Nick Jr. It’s also available to stream for Amazon Prime members.

6. Animal Planet L!ve

What it is: Animal Planet’s live animal cameras aren’t technically TV shows, but they’re educational and fun for kids nonetheless! Your little ones can watch live footage of everything from sharks, sea otters and fish in the Pacific reef, to sloths, calves and ants.

Why it’s great: These live feeds are a great way to introduce kids to the way their favorite animals live in the wild—especially the more exotic species they may not be familiar with otherwise. Animal Planet also hosts live chats for kids to submit their questions. Parents can supplement their kids’ learning with books or a trip to the zoo.

Where to watch: Head to Animal Planet L!ve to see their live schedules or watch highlight reels from past live camera feeds.

Now playing: Educational children’s TV shows

It’s time to ditch the circus and make your evenings run more smoothly for everyone in the family. These educational children’s TV shows will give your kids plenty of opportunities to learn while you take some much-needed time for yourself—guilt free. Check out these top educational apps for even more ways your kids can learn using technology!

The fact that you’re so invested in your child’s development may be a sign you should be leveraging that passion for other children. Check out the 9 signs you should be teaching preschool!

The post The Ultimate Guide to Educational Children’s TV Shows appeared first on EBL Coaching.

According to research, phonemic awareness is considered to be one of the key predictors to reading success and an important element in reading development. Some exercises you can do at home to help your child develop phonemic awareness skills are as follows:

Rhyming

Rhyming is another form of phonemic awareness and a skill that you can work on at home. Read your child stories that rhyme, such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? or Jamberry. You can also have your child anticipate rhyming words in poems or stories. For instance, you might read, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? I see a red bird looking at ,” and have your child say “me.” You might want to try helping your child create his or her own rhyming story or poem for further practice.

You can integrate physical activity while also building phonemic awareness by playing a “rhyming” ball game. Throw a ball to your child while saying out loud a sentence. When your child catches the ball he or she must say aloud a sentence that rhymes. For instance, you might say while throwing the ball, “I see so many trees!” When your child catches the ball he or she says a phrase like, “I see so many fleas!” Your child throws the ball back to you (or another player) and the rhyming continues. Learn more about this at Early Reading Tips – EBL Coaching.

Awareness of Words and Sentences

You can help your child develop awareness of phrases and sentences by teaching him or her what a sentence is (a group of words that tells a complete thought). Then dictate several different phrases and sentences and ask which ones are phrases and which are sentences – a great game to play in the car! You can write out sentences on a white board or on large flash cards and ask your child to count the number of words in the sentences. You can also set out a series of blocks and ask him or her to display a single block to represent each word in a sentence that you dictate. For instance, if you dictate the sentence “The brown cow is at the barn,” your child would take out 7 blocks to represent the 7 words in the sentence. Learn more about building your child’s reading readiness skills at How to Boost Your Child’s Reading Readiness Skills – EBL Coaching.

Each of these exercises will help strengthen your child’s phonemic awareness skills and develop strong reading skills in the future. Have fun, and your child won’t even realize how much he or she is learning!

Other Related Blogs:

Building Your Child’s Reading Fluency Skills

Building Basic Reading Skills

The post How to Build Your Child’s Pre-Reading Skills appeared first on EBL Coaching.