On Monday, August 14th, Kentucky Educational Television, KET KY, filmed the Science of Reading in classrooms at South & North Hancock Elementary Schools, and also interviewed SHES Principal Jennifer Howe, NHES Principal Kelly Moore and Literacy Coach/Interventionist/LETRS Facilitator Briana Pulliam.

KETs goal is to document how this field of research, the science of reading, and the implementation of the O-G approach in classrooms is improving literacy rates and reading proficiency. The research studies the linguistic, cognitive and neurological processes involved in reading, as well as the social & cultural factors that influence reading development.

All teachers at the 2 Hancock County elementary schools have received trainings in the phonics-based IMSE O-G Method (Institute for Multi-Sensory Education Orton-Gillingham) as well as LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling). The implementation of these very specialized and engaging methods into the reading curriculum has yielded great improvements according to teachers and administration.

The O-G Method was originally developed for those with dyslexia by Psychologist Anna Gillingham and Physician Samuel Torrey Orton, pioneer in the study of learning disabilities. The method provides kinesthetic learning techniques such as allowing the students to pound-out word syllables with their fists on their desk or writing their site words with their fingers in the sand.

Reading interventions using LETRS and O-G have also been provided for all students in grades K-5 who are at 30 percentile and below. And, all staff members in the schools, including custodians and cafeteria workers, are now familiarized with these multi-sensory reading strategies, with the goal of reinforcing a solidarity in the language used in these approaches throughout the schools and ensuring the greatest possible success of the students.

By Jennifer Wimmer

What is science of reading?

The science of reading is a field of research that explores how we learn to read and how the brain processes written language. It involves studying the cognitive, neurological, and linguistic processes involved in reading, as well as the social and cultural factors that influence reading development.

Understanding the science of reading and implementing the Orton-Gillingham approach can help inform teaching practices and interventions for students with reading difficulties. It can also help to improve literacy rates and reading proficiency in the population as a whole.

Orton-Gillingham Training

• Phonemic awareness: The training covers the ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in words and how to teach these skills to students.

• Phonics: The training teaches students the sound-symbol relationships in English and how to teach decoding skills to student’s

• Fluency: The training covers strategies for developing reading fluency, such as repeated reading and timed reading.

• Vocabulary: The training teaches strategies for building vocabulary and word knowledge.

• Comprehension: The training  covers strategies for improving reading comprehension, including text structure and comprehension monitoring.

• Multisensory instruction: The training provides an overview of multisensory approaches to teaching reading, including the OG approach.

• Assessment: The training covers the use of assessments to identify students’ reading difficulties and monitor their progress.