The Orton-Gillingham Word Finder

INTRODUCTION

The Orton-Gillingham Word Finder is a result of my completing the Orton-Gillingham training program at the Reading Disabilities Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. It is a resource book to help professionals access quickly those words needed for developing the Orton-Gillingham lessons and for decoding, encoding, word and sentence reading, oral reading, and dictation.

PURPOSE:

The Orton Gillingham Word Finder was compiled from a variety of sources to assist in the planning of an Orton-Gillingham lesson based on the work of Samuel Torrey Orton, M.D., Anna Gillingham, educator and psychologist, and Bessie Stillman, educator. This resource makes it easy to locate, select, and use words for planning lessons, and serves as a useful reference guide when presenting skills, concepts, rules, or explanations to individuals or small groups. It is, however, important to select words randomly for each phonogram, concept, or generalization presented in an Orton-Gillingham lesson. Words presented in “word families” (at, bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, rat, sat vat) or in alphabetical order would not be in keeping with the principles of Orton-Gillingham. Selection of words should be within the student’s speaking and listening language.

ORGANIZATION:

Words listed below a solid line within each section have phonograms that may have not been presented to the student, variations of the phonograms presented on the page or phonograms that appear later in the sequence of the text. These words may be used for reading only or for older and more advanced students. Phonograms, spelling generalizations and syllable rules include examples. Exceptions to the rules have been included, but should not be presented. The O-G Word Finder should be an on-going resource for professionals trained in the principles of Orton-Gillingham.

TESTIMONIALS:

“As a busy school-based Speech-Language Pathologist, I am always looking for age appropriate materials to use with older students who are working to improve their articulation skills. I found that resource in Len Rebello’s Orton-Gillingham Word Finder book The Word Finder is particularly useful for students in sound production within a particular consonant cluster or vowel family. The Word Finder quickly supplied me with ample wordlists for students to practice, and there are five levels from which to choose. The Orton-Gillingham is a valuable resource for every school-based Speech-Language Pathologist.”

—Anna Behrens, MA CCC-SLP Speech-Language Pathologist.


“This book is EXCELLENT!!  Quality work!  The words lists are so ‘pure’ – totally targeted to each specific lesson and in detail –  that I can use them with any student, at any time, and easily interchange with various levels.  I also love the thorough yet simple summaries of the various ‘rules’ of spelling, phonic structure and the English language, found right in the spot that I need them.  This is a totally helpful resource and I highly recommend it to all teachers, tutors and homeschoolers.”

Holly Pierlot, teacher/tutor
Learning Disabilities Association of Prince Edward Island