Orton-Gillingham Skill Sequence
Level One
Alphabet
- Say in sequence
- Name vowels
- Arrange letters in sequence
- Name all lowercase letters presented visually
Phonograms
- b-boy, c-cat, d-dog, f-fish, g-goat, h-hat, j-jam, k-kite
- l-lamp, m-man, n-nut, p-pan, r-rat, s-snake, t-top
- v-van, x-box, w-wind, y-yo-yo, z-zebra
- a-apple, i-igloo/itchy, o-octopus, u-umbrella/up, e-Eddie (elephant)
- sh-ship, th-this, ch-chin, wh-whale, qu-queen, ck – (reading only)
Long vowel phonograms:
- a-e safe, i-e five, o-e home, u-e cube, e-e Pete
Reading
- Closed syllable words with the above phonograms
- Closed syllable words with initial and/or final consonant blends
- Silent e syllable words
- Two-syllable words with division between two consonants (ban/dit)
- Learned words: the, a, said, was, are, were, to, do, of, I
Concepts
Understand and define:
- syllable
- vowel
- consonant
- consonant digraphs
- consonant blends
- learned words/sight words
- closed syllable
- silent e syllable
Spelling
- Closed syllable words with the above phonograms
- Closed syllable words with initial/final consonant blends
- Silent e syllable words
- Two-syllable words with division between unlike consonants (ban/dit)
- FF, LL, SS spelling rule (FLOSS)
- /k/ is spelled with c at the beginning of a word
Level Two
Phonograms
- tch-catch, ck-black (reading), ay-play, ee-feet, igh-night, oa-boat, ea-eat
- y-my, y-candy, ow-snow, ow-plow, th-thumb, oe-toe, oo-food, oo-book, er-her
- ir-bird, ur-burn, ai-rain, ar-car, or-corn, ie-pie, ou-ouch, aw-saw
Reading
- Words with Levels I & II phonograms
- Two-syllable words divided between 2+ consonants (nap/kin, ath/lete)
- Family patterns: all, old, ild, ost, ind, ing, ang, ong, ung, ink, ank, onk, unk
- Common suffixes: s (plural), ing, er, est, ly, y, ed
- Learned words: one, two, does, done, goes, gone, once, come, some, they, from
Concepts
- Diphthong (vowel team) syllable
- “R-controlled” syllable (Bossy R)
- Open syllables in one-syllable words (he, go)
- Plural & singular
- Base word
- Suffix
- Past tense
Spelling
- Words with Levels I & II phonograms
- Words with no ambiguous spellings (one way to spell each sound)
- Avoid vowel teams unless there’s a rule/generalization
- Ck or K at end of one-syllable word (sock, take)
- Tch or ch generalization (e.g., catch, rich)
- Y = /i/ at end of one-syllable word (my)
- Y = /e/ at end of polysyllabic word (candy)
- Ay = long A at end of word (play)
- Family patterns: all, old, ink, etc.
- Plural S
- Two-syllable words with division between unlike consonants
- Suffixes: ing, ed, er, est, ly, y (no spelling change to base word)
- Learned spelling words: the, do, to, are, of, said, was, were
Level Three
Phonograms
- ph-phone, ough-thought, ought-bought
- wr-write, kn-knife, gn-gnat, mb-lamb, ed (3 sounds)
- au- August, ew-new, ei-vein, ey-they, eigh-eight
- dge-fudge, ti-nation, si-tension, ci-special
- ie-chief, ei-seize, ey-key
- ture-nature, sure-pressure
- ear-early, our-journal, ould-could
Reading
- Words with Levels I–III phonograms
- Compound words
- Two-syllable words divided before a single consonant (o/pen)
- Words with learned words from previous levels
Concepts
- Open syllables
- Consonant-le syllables
- Vowel digraph syllables
- Syllable division patterns: V/CV (ti/ger), VC/V (lem/on)
- Homophones
- Suffix spelling rules (e-drop, doubling)
- Root words
- Prefixes
- Suffixes
- Word parts
- Word origin (Greek, Latin, Anglo-Saxon)
Spelling
- Words with Levels I–III phonograms
- Words with suffixes requiring e-drop or consonant doubling
- Words with prefixes and suffixes attached to base words
- Homophones (there/their/they’re, etc.)
- Words with silent letters (kn, wr, etc.)
- Multi-syllable words broken using correct division patterns
- Greek/Latin roots (e.g., phon, spect, dict)
06/01/25
