Literature Connection

One of the best aspects of IMSE’s Orton-Gillingham is that it gives teachers a little freedom in their lesson plans. Although there is a routine to follow, it’s not so rigid that you can’t personalize it. There is flexibility in finding activities, objects, and literature to correspond with your “New Concept” each week. However, an important part of direct instruction is to allow students to read decodable text during lessons. 

With that in mind, here are some tips:

• For your literature connection (after teaching “Tt”), incorporate IMSE’s Decodable Readers. 
  • When introducing each week’s decodable text, start by having students highlight the concept words in green. Then have them read the words. These could also go on a Rapid Word Chart. 
  • Highlight Red Words in red. Then have them read the words.

• • • Discuss vocabulary words by having students rate their knowledge. Then teach the words students rated as a 1 or 2: 
      • 4: I know the word and can explain it to others. 
      • 3: I’ve seen the word and could use it in a sentence.
      • 2: I’ve seen or heard of the word, but can’t explain it. 
      • 1: I’ve never seen or heard the word before. 
    • Have students read the book. Then have repeated readings throughout the week. On the last day of the week, students could read an unmarked version this time. 
    • If a student misreads a word or read a word sound-by-sound, have them reread the passage with no mistakes to work on automaticity. If they get stuck on a Red Word, tell it to them. Then have them reread the sentence. 
• Incorporate rich literature throughout the week by reading books to your students. Remember that students should not be required to read books that are at their frustration level or above instructional level. However, for most students, listening comprehension is typically much higher than reading comprehension. Therefore, listening to literature that has the new concept embedded is a wonderful treat for students. 
  • In your manual, there is a list of recommended books for each concept. 
  • Poetry is a great way to see concepts in literature. Phonics Through Poetry and More Phonics Through Poetry are great resources for higher-level concepts.  
  • Comic books, newspaper articles, and comic strips can also be sources for older students. 

Refer back to Gough and Tunmer’s Simple View of Reading. Reading comprehension is a product of word recognition and oral language comprehension. For struggling readers, they will not be able to comprehend until they can read the words. Decodable readers all for that practice and automaticity. Again, if you are struggling with ideas for any of the concepts, please email your trainer for suggestions.  We provide on-going support to all of our community members!  Your success is our success!