Did you know that we grant many requests from educators who want to pursue specialized training? One such request came from Christine Saggau, Field Elementary Literacy Specialist. She was awarded a grant for Orton-Gillingham Training, a structured literacy approach that breaks reading and spelling into smaller skills involving letters and sounds. 

With this training, students become more confident in their decoding know-how, which improves their reading accuracy and fluency. When these skill are combined, students develop a deeper level of comprehension, which serves them now and in the future.  

Christine shared what some of her students have to say about the approach.

4th Graders:

J: " I like how we do the sound spelling and the card (sound) deck."

C: "I like learning about the syllable types.” 

C: "My favorite parts are the rabbit (multisyllabic words) and memory words."

1st Graders:

M: “My favorite part is reading and getting to illustrate.” 

C: “I like reading books.” 

M: “I like reading and finding spelling patterns.” 

The work the students are doing also piqued the educator’s interest. As a result, Christine is offering Orton-Gillingham training to Field staff this summer.

We love learning about how a small grant can positively affect such a large number of students and staff.