Ron Yoshimoto Make It Multisensory Conference – Orton Gillingham Approach to Learning
Professional Development Recap
May 3 & 4, 2013
Overview by Lesley Dunn, DLN Executive Director
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On May 3 and 4 , 2013 , four staff members from The Dartmouth Learning Network attended a two day conference on
the Orton Gillingham Make It Multisensory phonetic approach to teaching reading, writing and spelling. In the late fall of 2012 DLN
was selected as a pilot site for the Department of Labour and Advanced Education’s initiative to introduce the Orton Gillingham
approach to learning to adult learners who were struggling to read in one-on-one settings as well as in small groups and classroom
formats. Working closely with Meredith Hutchings, Curriculum Consultant for the Department of Labour and Advanced Education
and the Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation of Canada Learning Centres for Children in Halifax for the past six months we had been
able to see in a short time the impact Multisensory Learning could have on adult learners struggling to read.
The Dartmouth Learning Network constantly searches out innovative teachings to assist our learners reach their learning and career
goals. We were fortunate to have a staff member (Zoe Mitchell) already engaged as a volunteer with the Scottish Rite Children’s
Centre in Halifax as a multisensory instructor and when the opportunity presented itself to have an additional staff member trained
in this approach to learning for classroom application we seized the opportunity. Originally only two DLN staff members were
scheduled to attend the conference, but when additional seats became available and additional classroom instructor (Cathy Cusack)
and DLN Executive Director Lesley Dunn chose to register as well. Having four staff members at different stages of understanding
regarding the Orton Gillingham Multisensory approach to learning provided a great opportunity for dialogue and peer learning. DLN
also found that the blend of conference attendees afforded us a wonderful opportunity to network with classroom teachers and
resource specialist who would be interacting with the children of adult learners we currently support.
The two day conference (six hour workshops each day) covered three levels of decoding and spelling: sound, syllable, and
morphological. Each conference participant was provided with multiple take home resources including several CD’s containing over
6,000 worksheets dealing with syllabication, sounds, rules and generalizations. During the course of conference Ron Yoshimoto (a
master trainer in the Orton-Gillingham Approach) helped participants move from phonemic awareness, phonics, syllable types,
syllable diversion rules, spelling, vocabulary, sentence structure, composition, and reading comprehension. Each module covered
was engaging and covered practical approaches and lots of hands on learning.
Dartmouth Learning Network Instructor Feedback
Jocelyn Boyd Johnson
The workshops facilitated by Ron Yoshimoto were a great learning experience. I am currently part of a group of 10 adult instructors
throughout the province enrolled in a program for the Orton-Gillingham (OG) method of instruction.
Ron Yoshimoto brought to life the OG methods and the importance of multi-sensory instruction on the first day of the seminar. He
explained various methods for using multi-sensory instruction when working with groups. The workshop was very interactive and
because of this made it quite clear on how to use these particular methods and resources once we were back in the classroom.
During the second day, we all had the opportunity to learn of how the English language is structured including the Anglo-Saxon, Latin
and Greek origins of the language. Learning the structure of the language was really interesting but even more exciting was being
provided with means and methods for taking what we had learned and transferring it to classroom teaching.
We as instructors were given these two day workshops in a multi-sensory and exciting atmosphere. We were also provided with
numerous resources that we would be able to use when working with our own students.
All in all, it was the best two days of workshops that I’ve attended where only one facilitator was able to capture a room of almost
70 people for both days.
Zoë Mitchell
Day 1: OG – MSL (Orton-Gillingham Multisensory Learning) Interventions in Public and Private School Settings
 Teaches sound-symbol correspondence  introduce letter name; sound; keyword; how to write
 Sequence important! Have to be able to justify your sequence...whatever it is
o /b/ and /d/ not together due to similarity of form
o Do not start with /k/ because formed with 3 strokes – more difficult to write
o Do not choose similar sounding short vowels (e.g. /e/ & /i/  easy to confuse)
 Pencil grasp – not too close to tip of pencil, and not too tightly gripped (tight grasp wastes NRG on the grip that could be
spent on thinking/decoding)
 RY starts with kinaesthetic modality because it is usually the strongest in learners with dyslexia
“Those with
Sounds
Dyslexia often
 Teach letter name keywordsound
think ‘outside
 Trace each letter saying the sound it makes as you trace
the box’ and
o Skywriting –use 1 or 2 fingers
Kinaesthetico Facing your student – teacher must trace their letter backward, so it appears
tactile is
formed correctly for student
strongest
learning
o /b/ and /d/ should be traced with different starting points to allow a
modality” ~RY
kinaesthetic difference between these two letter and prevent reversals
 ‘Primary’ deck of cards with pictures of keywords should only be used for about half of
the year; then transition to the ’Blending’ deck without keywords to allow the
student to be able to identify the sound without always having to use the crutch of the picture
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 3 or 4 grade spelling ability is required to make using a “spellchecker” effective
 Reading and spelling instruction are connected and should not be separated – each one reinforces the other
 Other specifics of teaching the sounds
o /y/  although there are 5 sounds that /y/ can make – only teach 3 – other 2 ways do not occur in high enough
frequency to make the cost of memorizing them worth the benefit of the number of words these 2 sounds unlock
o /nk/ and /ng/ - have student practice with each short vowel sound, not alone – makes it more practical
o /ey/ only teach 1 sound (/ee/ at the end of long words); other sound for /ey/ not common and can be treated as
learned words
 RY doesn’t teach blends or word families – creates more work and memorizing for learner (additional 40 sounds)
 As you move up in scope, drop cards for single consonants from your drills
 6 ways to practice these drills in individual sessions or small group and classroom settings:
o Chorus (letter name + sound)
o Individual & then chorus
o Random individuals & then chorus
o Kinaesthetically – trace on table while saying sound
 Chorus
 Individually & then chorus
o Working memory – “those who are wearing red; have birthday in August....”
o Gross Motor – “bend at hips at say the sound”
 Do not give the student the answer – elicit the answer from them! Use letter name, tracing and keyword to help the
student recall the sound up from their memory bank. This is because it creates a negative feedback cycle, when given the
answerdecreases their confidencereinforces fear of risk takingless likely to answer
 Error Correction
o Ask to trace the letter – see if this pulls up correct sound
o If still can’t get the sound, then ask them to give keyword to pull up sound
o If ca
1n’t get keyword – give them keyword and ask for sound

Classroom correction (vs. Individual correction)
o When an individual makes an error in a group - entire class must trace
o
Make sure that your class culture is such that students understand and believe/buy into “Your mistake helps
EVERYONE learn – this is a good thing!”
Word Reading
 Order matters
CVC (cat)
CCVC (flat)
CVCC(land)
CCVCC (blast)
CCCVCC (thrust)
 Start here and work up
o Should have about 20 words for reading list
o Read one word at a time
o Stronger readers can read first to be a model and scaffold for weaker readers and can read whole lines (vs. single
words) to increase difficulty or ask to increase speed
Working on fluency as well as decoding at the same time

Correction 
Trace & get/give
keyword
Have student soundblend
Examples
Examples
/b/ and /d/
Flips
/bend/ for /blend/
Omissions
/w/ for /m/
Rotations
/snake/ for /sake/
Insertions
/i_e/ for /i/
Sound confusions
/was/ for /saw/
Transpositions
Vocabulary
 Can use word lists to practice not only decoding and fluency, but also:
o Meaning – ask to “find the word that means...”
o Vocabulary development – ask to “find the word that is the antonym, synonym to.....”
o Analogies – create for them to solve
o Grammar – “find nouns, adjectives...”
o Following Directions – give more than one word to find
o Rhyming, blending
o Shapes
o Categories
o Math – numbers and counting
 Components of Vocabulary:
o Decoding
o Meaning
o Analogies
o Grammar
 Call out direction, same as for spelling activities above
 In Primary – rhyming, blending, meaning, shapes, categories, grammar & numbers/counting
Spelling




Remind student of
rules
/mac/ for/ make/
“ what does the
/e/ do?”
Should be very structured
Use a “sound bank” of what sounds the learner has mastered to build words for reading/spelling lists
Have them repeat sound to check they’ve got the sound
Give immediate corrective feedback



With groups have them check their own work
Want to create the balance between having learner memorize sight words and memorizing rules
Correction:
o “sound out/tap out sounds” (should be done with non-dominant hand on fingers from left to right – pinky to
thumb for left hand or thumb to pinky for right hand)
o Stop at error and ask “What letter makes those sounds?” If can’t get the letter, ask what the keyword for the
sound is; if can’t get keyword  give it to them – usually this unlock the letter for them
o Remember to have them re-read the word they spelled; this is connecting spelling back to reading
o Note: Anglo-Saxon words – less phonetic; Latin words – more phonetic
Alternative Activities
 Can use word lists to incorporate science into lessons too
 Sight words vs. Learned Words
o Sight words can be divided into
 a) phonetic green cards
 b) non-phoneticred cards; give letter names only – not sounds
 Learned word spelling technique:
o Spell word orally (letter names only)
o Write on board/in front of student – ask write letter, look up; write letter, look up... (this is scaffolding for the
learner) this is using ‘far point copying’
o Spell out 3 times
 Near point copying
o Close eyes and sky write
o Spell from memory as you write
o Uncover and near point check letter by letter
Day 2: Multisensory Structured Language II ~ Morphology
Layers of English
a. Anglo-saxon – makes up about 26-27% of English
 Short words; often slang/”dirty” words; functional words
 Not usually phonetic
 Build these words by compounding words
b. Latin – 50% of English words
 Opens doors for reading and vocabulary
 Usually longer words
 Doubled consonants at the beginning (aggression)
 Words ending in /ct/ and /pt/
 Build these words by adding prefixes or suffixes to base/root words – base word contains most of the meaning
c. Greek – Science terms; subject specific
 Build these words by combing forms – each part equally important to overall meaning (telescope)
d. French – large component of English too
e. (In US) Spanish – and growing (out-weighs French now)


Morphology = smallest unit of meaning in language (vs. smallest unit of sound in language)
Should be studied for:
o Vocabulary (build) and comprehension (increase)
o Decoding (by chunks is easier than sound by sound)
o Spelling (again easier to spell by chunks than sound by sound); morphemes are more phonetic
o Integration – with other subject areas (oct – 8; deca – 10)
o Grammar – suffixes indicate parts of speech, grammar, type of words, verb tense



Chameleon prefix = a prefix that can sound different or be spelled different depending on the letter that follows; created to
make English sound smoother/flow better
There are 6-8 important Chameleon prefixes  UN, MIS, CON, IM, EX, TRANS, DE, RE
Must know 10-15 suffixes and prefixes before starting roots
st
Chameleon Prefix
st
(changes from 1
form to
Chameleon)
1 form
Con
Chameleon
Com
Col
Cor
Co
st
1 form
In
Chameleon
Im
Il
Ir
When base word starts with...
b,m,p
Letter l
Letter r
Vowel or letter h
Suffixes (red card stock)
 Teach the meaning for (literal) and the part of speech
 Then take it to the next level by asking extension questions
 Bump up difficulty with asking them to use word in a sentence and ask about part of speech (p.o.s)
 Watch for suffixes that may sound the same, but have different meaning
 Putting the student on the spot in groups may lead to word retrieval problems
o If this happens ask them to give you a word that means ...
 “full of play” (playful)
 “past tense of play” (played)
 Do opposite or related suffixes together to help with word recall (less & ful; ed & ing)
 Correction:
o “If that were a real word, what would it mean?”
o When learner gives an example that is difficult to fit with meaning of suffix:
 BS 
 Ask them to look up for homework
 Tell them the language evolved (ex. Meaning of subject – originally to do with person under another’s
rule; not content area)




Track completion of suffixes and date when they learned
Introducing suffixes – not the time to worry about spelling; this is thinking and sharing task
o Teacher writes suffix on board; gives meaning and p.o.s
o Have class/ learner brainstorm words with this suffix
o Create a keyword for this suffix – in groups – same keyword for everyone
o Each student creates their own sentence with this suffix
o Take difficulty up a notch by asking what p.o.s. is that?
Sequence for Suffixes less structured (than compared to the Phonograms)
Teach 10-15 suffixes + 10-15 prefixes + 3 spelling rules for suffixes before you introduce “roots”
Sounds
Syllable VCCV
Closed prefixes
Spelling Rules for Suffixes
I.
II.
III.
1-1-1 Rule
Silent e Rule
y to i Rule
Prefixes (yellow card stock)
 Prefixes really important for word building and creating meaning
 Teach and ask for meaning with prefixes
Roots


Roots



Avoid Latin roots to start – more difficult as the language has evolved and meaning is less concrete
Drills
o “Suffix is?“
o “Meaning?”
o “Chameleon form for?”
Start with roots that are concrete, have one form and one meaning
Then combine prefixes, suffixes and roots and practice!
First roots  PORT, FORM, JECT, TRACT
Final Thoughts....
 Morphology evens out playing field for ESL, LD & Dyslexia learners

Morphology can and should start in primary (using Anglo-Saxon roots)

All learners of O-G method improve decoding and reading skills, but by how much and how fast depends on how you
are teaching it – morphology and bumping up the difficulty and integrating the subjects moves them faster

These are my notes from this conference and not something that would stand alone for someone that wasn’t in
attendance –I would be happy to discuss in more detail if there are questions about my notes. This was an excellent
opportunity to further develop my knowledge of teaching reading and would highly recommend Ron Yoshimoto’s
presentations to anyone in the field of literacy. Thank you to Ron Yoshimoto for such a great two-day conference, The
Scottish Rite’s Children’s Learning Centre for organizing and hosting Ron, Literacy Nova Scotia for their financial
support of PD and Dartmouth Learning Network for allowing me the time to attend.
In Closing
The Dartmouth Learning Network would like to that The Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation of Canada Learning Centres for Children
in Halifax, The Department of Labour and Advanced Education, and the Professional Development Fund administered by Literacy
Nova Scotia for providing us with such an extraordinary learning opportunity. The conference stimulated all senses, and you know
Ron Yoshimoto has a captured audience as we did not notice time passing by and often ran over nutrition and lunch breaks.
Interestingly 45 minutes after the conference was due to end participants were still eagerly engaged in learning.
The Dartmouth Learning Network entered into the conference in a unique position as our staff member Jocelyn Boyd Johnson had
already been integrating components of the Orton Gillingham Multisensory Approach to learning into her level 1A and 1B adult basic
educations classes with great success, in addition to working with a learner one-on-one. The 2013-1014 learning year will see the
Dartmouth Learning Network fully integrate a class for learners experiencing challenges with reading specializing in the Orton
Gillingham Multisensory Approach to learning.
Attached please find our conference receipt in the amount of $1,100.00. $500.00 of this amount was approved PD funding for
Jocelyn Bod Smith and Zoe Mitchell.
Yours in literacy and skills training,
Lesley Dunn
Executive Director
Notes: Hard copy in the mail