BY ANDREW DUPONT
Clarkston News Staff Writer
Local teachers were the ones getting the lessons this summer as several attended a voluntary week-long Orton-Gillingham training course presented by the Institute for Multisensory Education in Birmingham on Aug. 15-19.
Created by Dr. Samuel T. Orton and educator Anna Gillingham, Orton-Gillingham is a systematic method of literacy instruction that focuses on phonetics.
The grant-funded training course for K-3 instructors gave participants a chance to learn new exercises in phonemic awareness, the relationship between letters and sounds in speech and written languages.
‘That’s really the basis of reading,? said Kathleen Noble, first grade teacher at Bailey Lake, one of 28 local teachers and reading instructors who attended the course.
Participants learned new methods of reading instruction using visual aids and tracing letters in sand or on textured surfaces while speaking the letters.
Those who participated are now required to teach these methods for 30 minutes a day, with the successfulness being tracked by midyear and end-of-year assessments.
‘I’m excited about it because I really believe it’s going to be able to reach a different type of learner in the classroom,? said Noble.
Though the new lessons hold potential benefits for all students, tactile learners will gain from having lessons designed specifically for them.
As opposed to simply memorizing the sound of a specific word, the new lessons begin by focusing on individual letters so that students understand the letter’s use in language so that knowledge can be related to later lessons.
Additionally, the lessons do not move in alphabetic order. Instead they begin with letters that appear in words more frequently, vowels in particular, and explore the broad range of sounds associated with those letters.
‘It’s really rewarding to see a child make that connection,? said Noble.
Participants in the course included Noble; second grade teacher Alexis Iveson, reading aide Bev Lekse and literacy ISS Renee Foster, all from Bailey Lake; first grade teacher Mary DiVito, second grade teacher Eric Yeloushan, reading aide Sue Hinderliter and literacy ISS Karen Kumon, all from Andersonville; first grade teacher Danna Fox, second grade teacher Jamie Maras, reading aide Wendy Burleigh and literacy ISS Carey Crocker, all from Clarkston Elementary; second grade teacher Kristen Anderson and literacy ISS Pat Holihan, both from Independence; first grade teacher Megan Palnaude, second grade teacher Durelle Pitser, reading aide Teresa Compagnoni and literacy ISS Karen Gonzales, all from North Sashabaw; first grade teachers Kristin Smith, Michelle Aisthorpe and Megan Birkett, second grade teacher Kim Voog-Sabbag and literacy ISS Lesley Banycky, all from Pine Knob; and first grade teachers Laura McDonald and Sianne Kovalchuk, second grade teacher Pat Andrus, reading aide Judy Zielinski and literacy ISS Anne Oriel, all from Springfield Plains. Subject Area Coordinator Lisa Crawford also attended two days of the training course.