All Up Literacy
For my first OG experience, I spent an intensive year being trained in the Orton Gillingham (OG) approach of teaching reading and spelling. I took my first course at The Schenck School, a school specifically for dyslexic children. My teacher was a dynamic woman named Rosalie Davis. She was hands down the best teacher I have ever encountered.
Or, was it that what she was teaching was so enchanting? I think the answer is both.
What makes OG a special approach for teaching kids in structured literacy is that it is multi-sensory. What that means is, students of OG are taught to see, hear, and feel each element of the language rather than just memorize it.
The approach starts with the most basic part of the language, the letter sounds or phonemes, and builds from there. By the end of that first course, I felt like I finally understood how the pieces of the English language fit together.
And there were a lot of pieces.
I was taught letters and letter combinations, correct letter pronunciation, and the best order for the letters to be taught. And it wasn’t in the same order as the Alphabet Song. I also learned a way to divide words into syllable types. This made word pronunciation much easier because there were rules associated with each syllable type. I was taught spelling rules, plural rules, and doubling rules, which made it easier to read and spell words. I learned a ton about where English words came from, how they relate to other languages, and how to break down a word to discover its meaning just by knowing the parts.
Most importantly, I had been given a way to help someone else see those patterns too.
I became an Orton-Gillingham tutor and eventually began teaching and creating materials for other tutors, teachers, homeschool families, and parents. Over the years, that work grew beyond OG itself.
I love words. I always have, and my OG journey only made me love them more. But what I’ve come to love most is making complicated ideas easier to understand and easier to teach.
That’s what All Up Literacy is about.
The products and teaching articles you’ll find here draw from structured literacy and the Science of Reading, including phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, syllable division, morphology, and connected reading. You don’t have to teach with one particular program or follow my exact scope and sequence to use them.
My goal is simple: help you see the patterns in English, understand why they work, and give you practical ways to teach them.
Also find us on TpT!
Thanks for stopping by! I’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a comment, or drop me an email at jennifer@allupliteracy.
Recommended products
-
Read & Spell Foundations System Consonants & Short Vowels | Structured Literacy for Early Readers
$14.99 -
Scope and Sequence Bundle | Reading & Spelling System
$49.50 -
Short Vowel Rules Bundle | FLOSS, -ck,-tch, -dge Rules | Packets
$15.50 -
VCCV Bundle Packets + Fluency Stories | RABBIT, REPTILE, CANDY and HORNET Words
$20.66
So glad I found your blog! I’m in The Schenck School course w/ Rosalie right now! I just came home from class tonight and needed to review the vowel sounds/spellings after our quiz today and just happened to find your blog! I’ve only read 4 posts, but have already bookmarked your blog. I feel like your posts are a review of our classes, which I really need because she gives us so much information in 2 hours that it’s hard to take it all in. Thank you, thank you!
You are very welcome. I loved the class! And you are right, it is a lot to take in. I’m so glad my blog is a help. Feel free to ask if you have any questions or if there is something you are working on and would like to see a post. You are also welcome to write a guest blog about OG or anything you experience while learning OG.
Is there a “must have’ book list that you can’t live without now that you’re tutoring?
I use Unlocking the Power of Print — it is where your Scope & Sequence in class comes from. Also, How to Teach Spelling (although I do not use this one as much, it is a great resource). Rosalie said she was going to start incorporating more lesson plans in the class. I think that will be your most valuable tool — I would make a special binder of those, if she is now doing that.
Hi do you have a list of the letter rules?
Hi Vera, can you be more specific on the letters you want to know about? I’m not sure of a category of letter rules.
Hello, I’ve been looking for a way to contact you. I am not going to be able to take the full OG class anytime in the near future, but am trying to tutor my dyslexic grandson. I want to know if at the end of your course, will I have the skills I need to teach him to read AND do I get all the materials I need to teach him with your course. Thank you.
Hello! Yes, you will have the skills, and I include a ton of workbooks and support material — a scope and sequence, drill card book, packets and readers, assessments, and much more. I also will be happy to coach you when you need it.
I am still working on some parts of the course. I have all written material in the sections as well as workbooks and support material, it’s the videos I am adding weekly to have everything complete. With what I have already, you should be able to make a great start, and I can release any written work to you and talk with you if you get to a section where the video is pending.
I am happy to answer any questions to help you decide if my course is the right fit. You can email me at email.ogforall@gmail.com
Hello, I’ve been looking for a way (email) to contact you and couldn’t find one. I am not going to be able to take the full OG class anytime in the near future, but am trying to tutor my dyslexic grandson. I want to know if at the end of your course, will I have the skills I need to teach him to read AND do I get all the materials I need to teach him with your course. Thank you.