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For many children, learning to read feels like cracking a code — and for some, that code seems unbreakable. Whether a child has dyslexia, a language processing difference, or simply hasn’t responded to traditional classroom instruction, the frustration of not being able to decode words can erode confidence, motivation, and a love of learning. The Orton-Gillingham (OG) approach offers a structured, evidence-informed pathway that has been transforming reading outcomes for nearly a century.
In this post, we’ll break down what the Orton-Gillingham approach actually is, explore the strategies that make it work, look at what the research says, and share real-life stories of how OG instruction has changed the trajectory for students and entire school communities.
What Is the Orton-Gillingham Approach?
The Orton-Gillingham approach is a multisensory, structured literacy method originally developed in the 1930s by neuropsychiatrist Samuel Torrey Orton and educator Anna Gillingham. It was the first approach to combine explicit, direct, sequential phonics instruction with visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile learning pathways — and it remains one of the most widely used frameworks for teaching reading to struggling learners.
Unlike a single boxed programme, OG is best understood as a framework or approach rather than a curriculum. In the hands of a well-trained teacher, it becomes a flexible, diagnostic tool that adapts to each child’s unique learning needs. Branded programmes built on OG principles include Wilson Reading, Fundations, Barton Reading, Lindamood Bell, and many others.
The Core Principles That Make OG Effective
Every OG lesson is built on a set of interconnected principles. Understanding these principles helps parents and educators see why this approach often succeeds where others have not.
Explicit and Direct
Nothing is left for the child to guess or “discover” on their own. The teacher directly teaches every sound-symbol relationship, every spelling rule, and every strategy — modelling and explaining the how and why before asking the student to practise independently.
Systematic and Sequential
Instruction follows a carefully planned scope and sequence, moving from simple to complex. Just as we teach addition before multiplication, OG introduces basic consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words before progressing to multi-syllabic words and advanced spelling patterns. Each new concept builds on previously mastered skills — nothing is introduced in isolation.
Cumulative
Previously taught skills are woven into every lesson through continuous, deliberate review. This spiral review helps transfer knowledge from working memory into long-term memory, which is especially critical for students with dyslexia who often need more repetition.
Diagnostic and Prescriptive
The teacher continuously assesses a student’s verbal, non-verbal, and written responses during each lesson, then adjusts instruction accordingly. If a child consistently confuses the /dr/ and /jr/ sounds, for example, the OG practitioner weaves targeted practice into subsequent sessions until mastery is achieved.
Multisensory
This is perhaps the most distinctive feature of OG. Lessons simultaneously engage visual (seeing the letters), auditory (hearing and saying the sounds), and kinesthetic-tactile (tracing, writing, tapping) learning pathways. The simultaneous activation of multiple senses strengthens neural connections and reinforces memory through multiple channels.
Emotionally Sound
OG lessons are designed to build success from day one. Because every word a child encounters uses only previously taught patterns, students experience mastery and growing confidence at every step — a powerful antidote to the learned helplessness that many struggling readers carry.
Key OG Strategies for the Classroom and Home
Here are practical, evidence-informed strategies drawn from the Orton-Gillingham framework that parents and educators can begin using.
1. Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping with Finger Tapping
Have the child tap each sound in a word on their fingers as they segment it. For the word ship, the child taps three times — /sh/ /ĭ/ /p/ — then writes the corresponding letters (graphemes) for each sound. This links the auditory and kinesthetic pathways and builds the essential skill of phoneme segmentation.
2. The Sand Tray (or Shaving Cream) Drill
Place sand, salt, or shaving cream on a tray. Call out a known sound, have the child repeat it, then trace the corresponding letter(s) with their finger while saying the letter name and sound aloud (e.g., “d, /d/”). The sand tray activates thousands of nerve endings, igniting multiple learning pathways in the brain and significantly boosting retention of sound-symbol correspondences. Alternatives like rice or textured surfaces work just as well.
3. Simultaneous Oral Spelling (SOS)
The teacher says a word. The child repeats it, then spells it aloud letter by letter while writing each letter. Finally, the child reads the completed word back. This “say it, spell it, write it, read it” routine links auditory, visual, and motor channels in a single, powerful loop.
4. Structured Sound Card Drills
Use flashcards with individual graphemes (letter or letter combinations). The teacher shows a card (visual), the child says the sound (auditory), and traces or writes the letter (kinesthetic). Cards are sorted into “mastered” and “still practising” piles to ensure cumulative review.
5. Red Words (Irregular High-Frequency Words)
Words that don’t follow regular phonics patterns (e.g., said, was, the) are taught as “red words.” The child looks at the word, identifies which part is irregular, traces it on a textured surface, spells it aloud, and writes it from memory. Multisensory practice helps these tricky words stick.
6. Syllable Division Strategies
OG explicitly teaches syllable types (closed, open, vowel-consonant-e, vowel teams, r-controlled, and consonant-le) and how to divide multi-syllabic words into manageable chunks. Students learn to spot patterns and apply rules, transforming a daunting long word into a series of decodable pieces.
7. Dictation Practice
The teacher dictates sounds, words, and sentences that use only previously taught patterns. The child writes what they hear, reinforcing encoding (spelling) skills. Dictation serves as both a teaching tool and a diagnostic check — the teacher observes errors in real time and adjusts the next lesson accordingly.
What Does the Research Say?
It’s important to present the evidence honestly. The research picture on Orton-Gillingham is nuanced.
Positive Findings
A 2024 comparative study at Northern International Special School (Louisiana) randomly assigned 60 dyslexic students to either an OG instruction group or a traditional instruction group. Paired t-tests showed significant within-group improvements for both groups, but the OG group demonstrated extremely large effect sizes — accuracy (d = 6.55), fluency (d = 5.09), and comprehension (d = 6.31). ANCOVA results indicated that OG instruction accounted for over 90% of the variance in post-test reading scores after controlling for pre-test performance.
Multiple individual studies have shown that branded OG programmes improve reading accuracy, fluency, spelling, and comprehension — particularly for students with dyslexia or word-level reading disabilities.
A More Cautious View
A rigorous 2021 meta-analysis published in Exceptional Children (Stevens et al.) examined 24 studies of OG interventions for students with or at risk for word-level reading disabilities. The weighted mean effect size for foundational skills (phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, spelling) was 0.22 — positive but not statistically significant (p = .40). For vocabulary and comprehension, the mean effect size was 0.14, also not significant (p = .59).
The authors noted that these non-significant results were largely driven by high heterogeneity across studies and low overall study quality — particularly in implementation fidelity, where most studies received unacceptable ratings. Importantly, the mean effect sizes were positive, suggesting educational promise, but the evidence base needs more high-quality, large-scale randomised controlled trials to draw definitive conclusions.
What This Means for Parents and Educators
The core components of OG — explicit, systematic, sequential phonics instruction — are strongly supported by the broader science of reading. Many comparison conditions in the meta-analysis were themselves evidence-based reading programmes, which may explain why OG didn’t show large advantages over active controls. The approach aligns directly with what the science of reading tells us works for struggling readers; what’s less clear is whether OG’s specific multisensory elements provide additional benefit beyond what other high-quality structured literacy programmes offer.
Real-Life Success Stories
Trey: From Pre-Primer to Reading Aloud with Pride
Trey entered fourth grade reading at a pre-primer level — a level before kindergarten. His teacher had few tools to help him beyond traditional guided reading prompts like “Does the word look right? Sound right? Make sense?” For a child who couldn’t decode, these prompts were meaningless.
After the teacher completed 40 hours of Orton-Gillingham training and implemented consistent OG lessons in fifth grade, Trey began completing every reading assignment. Within weeks, he volunteered to read aloud during class novel studies. When the class read A Long Walk to Water, Trey raised his hand every day to read to his peers. The transformation went beyond reading scores — it changed a boy’s relationship with school and his own sense of possibility.
Mel: English Learner to Eager Participant
Mel arrived in a fourth-grade classroom mid-year from Central America speaking no English. Throughout fourth grade, classroom participation and work completion remained persistent challenges. But after his teacher began delivering OG-based reading instruction in small groups, Mel eagerly joined the reading table each day, tried to be the first to answer every question, and for the first time, raised his hand to read in front of the entire class.
Charli: Restoring Hope
Fifth-grader Charli wrote in an essay that the previous year she had hoped to read on grade level, but at the end of the year, knew she hadn’t reached that goal. After consistent OG instruction, she grew several reading levels and wrote that her hopes weren’t completely dashed because she now “knew how to practice reading her words just right.” She celebrated her accomplishments at her fifth-grade graduation.
Mountain Mahogany Community School: 25-Percentage-Point Jump
Albuquerque’s Mountain Mahogany Community School began implementing the IMSE Orton-Gillingham approach. Four years later, in 2022, their New Mexico state assessment scores in English Language Arts revealed that 50% of students were proficient in reading — a 25-percentage-point improvement.
Grand Rapids, MN: A District-Wide Shift
Educators in Minnesota’s ISD 318 originally believed OG methodology was only effective for students with dyslexia. After implementing the approach across all tiers of instruction, they credited OG as the main reason behind the reading improvements they were seeing across all students — not just those with diagnosed learning differences.
Hoboken Public Schools: Learning Acceleration Post-Pandemic
New Jersey’s Hoboken Public School District became a leading example of combating pandemic learning loss by prioritising literacy education through the IMSE Orton-Gillingham approach, training teachers to deliver explicit instruction that helps every student read at grade level.
How to Get Started
If you’re a parent or educator interested in bringing OG strategies into your child’s learning:
- Seek training. The Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators offers certified training programmes. Many structured literacy providers (IMSE, Wilson Language, Stern Center) also offer OG-based professional development.
- Start small. Even incorporating daily 10–15-minute sound card drills, finger tapping, and sand tray practice into a child’s routine can build foundational skills.
- Be consistent. OG’s power lies in its predictable structure. Keeping the same lesson routines in the same order every day allows children to devote their mental energy to learning rather than figuring out new tasks.
- Celebrate progress. Because OG instruction only asks children to read and spell using sounds and patterns they’ve already mastered, success is built into every lesson. Notice and name this growth for your child.
The Bottom Line
The Orton-Gillingham approach gives struggling readers what they need most: clear, structured, multisensory instruction that builds skills sequentially and celebrates mastery at every step. While the research calls for more rigorous studies to definitively establish OG’s superiority over other evidence-based structured literacy programmes, the core principles of OG — explicit, systematic phonics; cumulative review; diagnostic teaching — are firmly supported by the science of reading. And the real-life stories of children like Trey, Mel, and Charli remind us that behind every data point is a child whose relationship with reading — and with learning itself — can be transformed.
References
“What is Structured Literacy.” Orton-Gillingham.com / IMSE, 2023.
“Effectiveness of Orton-Gillingham Instruction in Enhancing Reading Skills Among Dyslexic Students: A Comparative Study.” SSRN, 2024.
“What Is The Orton-Gillingham Method?” Reed Charitable Foundation, 2025.
“Success Stories: Orton-Gillingham Transforms Reading Abilities.” IMSE / Orton-Gillingham.com, 2023.
Stevens, E.A., et al. “Current State of the Evidence: Examining the Effects of Orton-Gillingham Reading Interventions for Students With or at Risk for Word-Level Reading Disabilities.” Exceptional Children, 87(4), 397–417, 2021.
“Orton-Gillingham.” Wikipedia.
Readhead, Rena. “The Power of Orton-Gillingham Lessons in the Classroom.” RenaReadhead.com, 2024.
“5 Multisensory Orton-Gillingham Activities to Use in the Classroom.” Orton-Gillingham.com / IMSE, 2023.
“Teacher Impact Stories.” Stern Center for Language and Learning, 2025.
“Helpful Hints: The Sand Tray — Orton-Gillingham Multisensory Tools.” Brainspring Educator Academy, 2026.
“The Orton-Gillingham Approach.” Orton-Gillingham.com / IMSE, 2022.
“Seven Characteristics That Make the Orton-Gillingham Approach Work.” Spiral Skills Tutoring, 2022.
“The Principles of Orton-Gillingham (Part 2).” Together in Literacy, 2025.
“4 Benefits of the Orton-Gillingham Approach.” ReadSource, 2020.
“The Orton-Gillingham Approach Explained.” Edublox Online Tutor, 2025.
“Why the Orton-Gillingham Approach Delivers Real Results in Structured Literacy.” Pride Reading Program, 2026.
“Orton-Gillingham and Structured Literacy.” Orton-Gillingham.com / IMSE, 2022.
