Montessori Reading: Explicit, Systematic Phonics instruction

Montessori reading follows the science. The body of research that makes up the Science of Reading clearly shows that many children need systematic, organized, sequenced phonics instruction. In the Montessori reading curriculum, sandpaper letters provide a multisensory, systematic curriculum at the Early Childhood level. For students who need multiple strategies or who are still struggling with phonics in elementary, we may need supplemental support. Orton-Gillingham is a multisensory phonics instruction program that shares many things in common with the Montessori approach to phonics. Developed almost one hundred years ago, it provides techniques that can be a strong compliment to the traditional Montessori reading curriculum.

IMSE and Orton-Gillingham Training

In the 1930s, neuropsychiatrist Dr. Samuel Orton and educator and psychologist Anna Gillingham developed the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction to help struggling readers—specifically those students that exhibited challenges aligned with what later became known as dyslexia. It provides intense routinization and repetition specific to developing word recognition through five main components.

Components of Orton Gillingham

• Phonological Awareness
• Phonics
• Fluency
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension

Orton-Gillingham is prescriptive and includes diagnostic practices to inform teaching. It is structured and sequential, with a clear path of scripted lessons for teachers to follow. It includes drills that are teacher-led, which can be hard to fit into any classroom schedule but are needed by struggling readers requiring extra repetition. It simultaneously teaches decoding and encoding skills (reading and spelling).

The Institute for Multisensory Education Origin Story

The Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE) offers multiple levels of Orton-Gillingham training. IMSE was launched by elementary teacher Jeanne Jeup. Jean remembers, “I just didn’t feel prepared when I started teaching. I was in a first grade classroom and I didn’t have the skills to teach children how to read. A quarter of my class were not readers and didn’t have a support system at home…After experiencing myself the power of Orton-Gillingham, I knew I wanted to bring a modernized version of the approach to the masses-teachers in diverse classrooms all over the country. I wanted to create a training that offered much more than theory and that explicitly modeled read techniques and practical ideas that teachers could use immediately in their classroom and start seeing results…That was 25 years ago and I’m so proud of the impact our trainings have had since that original mission was born.”

AN IMSE TRAINER REMEMBERS WHEN SHE EXPERIENCED OG FOR THE FIRST TIME:

“I will never forget the first day of training-the energy in the room was electric. My instructor shared the why and the how of teaching reading using a proven multisensory structured literacy approach. It was the missing piece of the puzzle my students needed! I was able to take back the information I learned and implement it right away.”

—Ginger Hardy, Reading Interventionist, Central A&M School District, Assumption, IL

I have taken both comprehensive and intermediate training courses and found them useful for developing a robust continuum of lessons in the above areas. This system is primarily designed as an intervention system, not to replace your classroom reading curriculum, though many components are great for general classroom use.

In addition, I have taken Leading Inclusive Montessori Schools: Strategic Planning for Inclusion through the Montessori Medical Partnerships for Inclusion organization, and Orton Gillingham is a recommended tool for academic inclusion in their courses.

Strengths

• Teachers leave with immediately applicable lessons and a curriculum that can be easily used over the course of a three-year multi-age classroom through differentiated instruction.
• Simultaneously provides reading and spelling curricula.
• Designed to help our most vulnerable readers with intensive support based in research-driven methodology. However, it’s important to note that the components and strategies used in OG are backed by science, but there is not a robust body of science dedicated to OG as a whole.
• Prepared lessons and continuums of concepts give teachers a clear map and toolkit that equips teachers to begin implementing lessons tomorrow. While assessments and observations will inform which lessons need practiced/prepared, time designing lessons or materials is minimal.
• Offers lessons for children through Upper Elementary ages.
• OG offers printable readers to support the entire lesson sequence.
• Almost a hundred years old, this method has been time-tested by many, many educators.
• Because the program was not developed in a Montessori setting, routines are adaptable to larger group instruction for high-need populations.

Considerations

• Drills are teacher-led and repetitive, which can be tricky in a Montessori environment focused on student-led learning—but they are not incompatible. OG covers periods one and two of learning (introduction of concepts and guided practice), and there is more teacher-centered guided practice built in to the program than you would typically find in a Montessori classroom. While this is absolutely essential for children with reading disabilities, this level of teacher-centered teaching may not be necessary for some students. It equips teachers with an arsenal, but needs to be applied with balance.
• OG is a prescriptive program with daily routines that must be fit in to your classroom schedule. Without the regular repetition of these practices, the program looses its fidelity. Teachers must be committed to implementation. Picking and choosing components or not doing the drills regularly can undermine the system’s effectiveness.

Montessori Reading Recommendation for Orton-Gillingham Phonics Program

Overall, this is a great system for teachers with a high number of struggling readers because it is designed to offer intensive teacher-led intervention for groups. While it has overlap with the Montessori Reading Acceleration Pathway, if student need is high or students are older, this creates systems that address the most needs in the shortest time. Both the Montessori Reading Accelerated Pathway and OG offer options for building the phonemic awareness, phonics, and word recognition components of skilled reading.

Learn more about IMSE Orton-Gillingham training HERE.

Learn more about the Science of Reading and Montessori.