Teachers and staff from all of the Cook County schools, as well as a few teachers from Lake County, came together for a fourday workshop on the Orton Gillingham method for teaching reading. Thirty-six teachers became students during the Institute for Multisensory Education training.
For four days, August 22-25, local teachers became excited students as they gathered in the School District 166 cafeteria to learn about the Orton Gillingham reading methodology.
There were teachers from all Cook County schools—Cook County Middle and High School, Birch Grove Community School, Great Expectations School, Sawtooth Mountain Elementary School, and Oshki Ogimaag Community School, along with a few teachers from Lake County schools. In all, 36 teachers and staff members participated in the training and as Sawtooth Elementary third grade teacher Lorelei Livingston explained, “The goal is to have all Cook County students in all of our schools learning to become better readers.”
The class was taught by Victoria Jones of Arkansas who is an instructor with the Institute for Multisensory Education.
Orton Gillingham (the OG method) focuses on the phonemes (the sound that a letter makes) and graphemes (the sounds that letters make, such as “sh,” “ch” or “oa”). The method has been around since the 1930s. It was developed as a way to teach children with dyslexia to read, but is now recognized as a useful approach to help all students.
Left: There is quite a contingent of new teachers at Cook County Schools/ISD 166 this year. They took a break from orientation on Monday, August 29 for a photo. (L-R, front) Jim Lundorrff, 5th grade; John Paul, Special Education, kindergarten – 5th grade; Rachel Liechty, Early Childhood Special Education; Maggie Friedrichs, Spanish; Pamela Foster, preschool and Early Childhood Family Education. (L-R, middle) Autumn Clearwater-Day, preschool; Priscilla Beck, art; Emma Spoon, 7th grade science, health and physical education and kindergarten – 3rd grade physical education; Brianna Valbrecholt, music; Megan Rubbelke, high school math. (L-R, back) Peter Lucken, middle school social studies; Amanda Hand, 2nd and 3rd grade; Dave Hanson, industrial technology; Evan Morris, high school special education; Chad Benesh, high school science. Above: As well as a number of new teachers, there are several new—or new to full-time—paraprofessionals. (L-R) Tom Sullivan, Lori Austin, Stephanie Lundorff, Jenna Berglund, Diane Stoddard, Rochelle Staley, Elissa Smith.
The OG method uses a multi-sensory approach to learning, students (and teachers) draw letters in sand trays as they say each sound aloud. Students can also use an iPad app, bendable pipes, salt, or other multi-sensory items.
“The idea is that the more exposed students are to the letter and the sound, the stronger the connection will be,” said Birch Grove Community Education Coordinator Sara Silence.
“With a strong foundation of the sounds letters make, reading happens not only faster, but stronger as well,” said Silence.
With the majority of Cook County teachers able to teach the OG method of reading there will be fewer gaps as students transition between grades. Using the OG method, teachers can also assess reading levels of older children and identify any missing pieces of the reading puzzle that prevent the student from being a great reader.
It is believed that this is the first time all schools have collaborated on training like this. School District 166 Principal Adam Nelson said, “Personally, I want to thank all of the teachers who participated and the administrative leaders who agreed to pursue this training for our faculty members.”
Nelson said it was great to see almost every elementary school teacher in the county taking part, as well as some middle school staff members. “They are looking forward to implementing the Orton Gillingham strategies in their classrooms.”
And how did the local teachers do as students? Jones said, “This has been one of our best training sessions ever. You don’t see all this passion in all my workshops. They were really amazing.”
The Orton Gillingham training was offered locally thanks to funding from the Cook County Education Association, the Grand Marais Lions, the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation and the Northland Foundation.
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