- The Slingerland Approach
The Slingerland®Approach is a classroom adaptation of the Orton-Gillingham method. Since 1960, thousands of teachers throughout the United States, and in Canada, Australia, and the Philippines have received Slingerland training. This structured, sequential, simultaneous, multisensory teaching approach is designed to help dyslexic students and other struggling readers with speaking, reading, writing and spelling. The flexibility of the approach has also made it effective in general education classrooms as well.
All learning takes place with involvement of Auditory, Visual and Kinesthetic-motor processing. It is in the linkage of these channels that dyslexic children often have difficulty. The Slingerland® Approach starts with the smallest unit of sight, sound, and feel — a single letter. Expanding upon that single unit, students are taught through an approach that strengthens inter-sensory associations and enables the strong channel of learning to reinforce the weak. It is thorough and integrated, providing a complete language learning experience.
From single letters, students are taught how to associate sounds with their visual counterparts and put these letters together to spell words. They add suffixes and prefixes, and write phrases, sentences and paragraphs. They are also taught the phonetic rules and generalizations of the English language. Rather than a weekly spelling list, children work with a dictation paragraph that provides practice with punctuation, capitalization, and language mechanics, as well as spelling. Through this carefully guided approach, they learn to put these skills to functional use while developing confidence in their own abilities for written expression.
A structured phonetic approach to teaching decoding helps the students become successful in reading individual words and learning the structure of the English language. In preparation for reading, students learn how words go together in phrases to create meaning and learn the vocabulary that will be needed to understand a reading selection. The teacher then carefully structures that selection to develop fluency and comprehension of the passage.
Classroom Success
The Slingerland® Approach is a supportive instructional program that encourages academic competence, effective work habits and self-discipline. Students gain self-confidence and enthusiasm for learning as they experience success in school.
Slingerland-trained teachers consistently provide the specialized instruction needed for children with dyslexia to unlock the rich world of written and spoken language. This prevents students from falling through the cracks of a conventional classroom. It is a very cost-effective way for school districts to fulfill their commitment to educate children with dyslexia.
Some school districts use the Slingerland® Approach in all their primary classrooms. This creates an enhanced learning experience for all children, while providing specific help for the dyslexic population. Test scores reflect the effectiveness of this multi-sensory structured language instruction.
Slingerland Advantages
- A simultaneous multisensory total language approach
- Documented success
- Can be used in any classroom setting
- Can be used with any reading materials
- Meets instructional needs of children in general education and those with dyslexia or those experiencing language difficulties
- Successful * Efficient * Proven * Cost-effective
Wilson Language: Whether caused by dyslexia or some other language-based learning difficulty, a late introduction to English or over-reliance on whole language programs, this deficit must be corrected by direct, multisensory, structured language teaching.
Wilson’s mission is to provide teachers with the skills and tools they need to help their students become fluent, independent readers. We prepare teachers to use our multisensory, structured language programs and strategies to successfully teach reading and spelling.
- Alphabetic Phonics
Alphabetic Phonics is an ungraded, multisensory curriculum, based on the Orton-Gillingham approach, that teaches the structure of the Engllish language. This phonetic program teaches reading, handwriting, spelling, verbal and written expression, and comprehension, by simultaneously engaging the visual, auditiory, and kinesthetic modalities.
- DTP (Dyslexia Training Program)
The Dyslexia Training Program at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children is a highly successful Tier III reading intervention program that provides intensive phonics instruction to children with dyslexia.
The Dyslexia Training Program is a comprehensive, two-year program that bridges the gap for school districts in which a trained dyslexia therapist or appropriately trained teacher is not available.
S.P.I.R.E, a Research-Based Program
Over the last 15 years we have seen a growing consensus among researchers and theories in the field of reading and literacy. This consensus has centered on several important factors related to reading and literacy instruction that appear to be solidly based on research, indicating that they have powerful influences on achievement. These factors are:
- Exemplary instruction
- Explicit, systematic instruction in concept and word
- Differentiated instruction
- Phonological awareness instruction
- Explicit, systematic, and sequenced instruction on sound/symbol relationships
- Direct instruction in vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension
- Rich, integrated experiences in reading and literacy; reading text reinforces concepts taught
- Explicit, systematic, sequential instruction in spelling, handwriting, written language, and oral expression.
S.P.I.R.E, is not only built on these factors, but also addresses the principles of best practices as set forth by the leading researchers in the field of literacy. These principles have been recognized by the International Reading Association and the International Dyslexia Association.
S.P.I.R.E, lesson plans and material provide engaging tools designed to systematically and successfully guide students to comprehensive abilities in phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.
It moves students through a developmental process from emergent levels of literacy to early reading to accomplished, fluent reading. Throughout, student attention is enhanced by an actively involved teacher who works with the student throughout the lesson, utilizing multi-sensory instruction, game like activities, and engaging stories. Each lesson is designed to begin the process of moving children from the skills of early reading to the beginning of a lifelong love of and commitment to literacy.
S.P.I.R.E, is a TOTAL language approach. It integrates spoken language with reading and written expression. To look more into this program you can download the research base for S.P.I.R.E at epsbooks.com/SPIRE