An Overview of Orton-Gillingham 

The Orton-Gillingham (OG) approach is an evidence-based, Structured Literacy approach that focuses on the individual strengths and needs of every student. Founded in the 1930s by Dr. Samuel T. Orton and Anna Gillingham, the Orton-Gillingham approach was designed as an intervention for those who struggled with reading, spelling, and writing. This highly structured approach focused on the parts of the whole—breaking words down into more manageable parts, beginning with sounds and letters within syllables and then scaffolding skills over time in a meaningful sequence.   

Orton-Gillingham implements all of the components and instructional elements of a Structured Literacy approach. Structured Literacy brings the science of reading into the general education classroom and ensures that all students receive evidence-based, explicit teaching and an equal opportunity for success. It is especially well suited to students with dyslexia because it directly addresses their core weaknesses in phonological skills, decoding skills, and spelling (Moats, 2017). According to the International Dyslexia Association, “This approach not only helps students with dyslexia, but there is substantial evidence that it is effective for all readers” (2019).  

Evidence shows that typical literacy programs have historically left educators ill-equipped to implement explicit, systematic phonics instruction, and that supplemental instructional materials have been poorly aligned to support literacy learning. Thanks to national shifts in legislation, evidence-based approaches based on the science of reading have recently been adopted into law in more than 40 states since the end of 2024 (Schwartz, 2024). These specific policies include requirements for professional development, certifications, instructional materials, and timely assessments to support teachers and students.    

Principles of the Orton-Gillingham Approach 

Individualized
Literacy instruction suited for the general education class and tailored to the needs of students across all tiers of MTSS.  

Diagnostic and Prescriptive
Assessment drives instruction, helping teachers to pinpoint where to begin instruction and identify students who will need additional support. Lessons are tailored to target and resolve the student’s difficulties, building on the progress made in previous lessons.              

Explicit Instruction
New content is introduced with clear explanations, examples, and many opportunities for guided application, independent practice, and feedback.  

Systematic
Instruction moves from easier to more complex concepts. 

Sequential and Cumulative
Concepts are taught in a logical order, with new information building upon previously taught concepts. 

Multi-sensory
“Instruction simultaneously utilizes the associations of the auditory (hearing), visual (seeing), and kinesthetic (movement) neural pathways to strengthen learning” (Orton-Gillingham Academy, 2023).  

Scope and Sequence Overview

While many programs use the Orton-Gillingham principles, OG is not a curriculum with one prescribed scope and sequence. It is an approach to phonics instruction that is based on the science of reading, a body of research that informs us about how children learn to read and what constitutes effective instruction. This research has proven that phonics instruction must be sequential, systematic, and cumulative to develop a strong foundation in literacy.  

A scope and sequence acts like a roadmap to guide Orton-Gillingham instruction. This roadmap addresses all elements of speaking, listening, reading, spelling, and writing, with opportunities for daily, weekly, and cumulative practice and review of learned concepts. This systematic approach helps students develop strong decoding and encoding skills, ultimately cultivating their reading and spelling abilities.  

A scope and sequence rooted in the Orton-Gillingham approach will serve as a guide for phonics instruction, highlighting the hallmark principles of Orton-Gillingham. Multi-sensory learning strategies are woven throughout lesson planning. The scope and sequence will be cumulative, building a base of phonics knowledge in a logical order beginning with basic letter-sound correspondences and gradually progressing to more complex phonics concepts. The reciprocal relationship between reading and spelling will be evident in the framework. 

We can think of the scope as what is taught, and the sequence as when it is taught. Working together, the scope and sequence ensure that students are taught all of the concepts they need to become strong, confident readers.    

Understanding Scope in Detail 

The scope provides an overview of the topics, concepts, and materials covered in the principal areas of Orton-Gillingham instruction. It will focus on the essential components of reading, identifying subskills and concepts that should be taught, such as phonics rules, spelling patterns, and language skills. The scope should be aligned with students’ learning goals, age, and developmental level to deliver comprehensive literacy instruction. 

Essential Components of Reading 

Phonological awareness is the understanding that language can be broken down into smaller units and then manipulated. It plays a critical role in literacy acquisition and is represented by a cluster of skills that can best be expressed in three subsets: phonological sensitivity, early phonemic awareness skills, and advanced phonemic awareness skills. 

Phonics focuses on teaching children to read and spell by identifying letter-sound relationships, known as the alphabetic principle. It is practiced with visual and auditory activities where students can directly match phonemes to their grapheme representations. Lessons that focus on teaching reading and spelling simultaneously enhance and reinforce skills in both areas (Graham, 2020; Reed, 2012). 

Fluency refers to the ability to read with automaticity, accuracy, and expression. This allows students to focus on text comprehension rather than struggling to decode individual words. 

Syllabication instruction explicitly teaches students to identify syllable types and syllable division patterns or rules for breaking apart multisyllabic words (Gillingham & Stillman, 2014). As students demonstrate mastery with each syllable type, they are taught rules or processes for breaking multisyllabic words into smaller parts to decode each part (syllable) and then blend the syllables to read the whole word. 

Orthography refers to a student’s knowledge about how spelling patterns, rules, and conventions are represented in our written language. It also teaches letter-sound relationships (phonics), the structure of word parts (syllables, morphemes), and strategies to aid decoding. Students will engage in the process of orthographic mapping once they can instantly recognize words in text. 

Morphology instruction breaks words down into smaller, meaningful parts called morphemes. Understanding how affixes, Latin, and Greek bases combine enhances students’ decoding, spelling, and vocabulary.  

Instruction in grammar and syntax teaches students how sentences are formed with proper word order and grammatical rules, leading to improved reading comprehension, enhanced writing skills, and stronger communication skills. 

Vocabulary strategies can be applied in every content area where instruction is provided using both incidental and intentional instruction, including specific word learning, word learning strategies, and word consciousness. 

While the other essential components of reading will contribute to a student’s ability to comprehend text, planned comprehension instruction should focus on teaching students to activate strategies that include visualization, predicting, clarifying, questioning, summarizing, and making inferences. 

Understanding Sequence in Detail 

A well-structured sequence ensures that phonics skills are introduced at developmentally appropriate stages, representing students’ phonological awareness, letter recognition, and decoding skills at each grade. The sequence will provide the following:  

• Identification of skills to be taught
  An OG sequence outlines the specific phonics skills or concepts that will be covered in an intentional order, aligning with the science of reading research. It highlights phonics concepts such as letter sounds, digraphs, blends, and vowel patterns in a progressive order.  

• Intentional order of teaching
  Initial concepts may be selected due to their frequency or ability to combine to form words, allowing students to practice decoding and encoding skills early in their phonics learning. An OG sequence will typically avoid teaching confusing concepts close together. Additional concepts are then ordered in a logical progression, beginning with foundational knowledge and gradually increasing in complexity to build a strong foundation for reading and spelling. 

• Adaptability
  In general, a sequence reflects how certain concepts are mastered before others (e.g., short vowels are taught before long vowels). However, there are several reasons why a sequence may require adaptation. The OG sequence is flexible, allowing for lesson planning that will tailor instruction to meet individual students’ needs. Based on assessment, teachers may determine that students can move more quickly through one concept or spend more time on a more challenging concept. Concepts may be combined, broken up, or taught in a different order where appropriate. Some other examples might include: 

• • Students cannot learn all the variants of a spelling rule in one week’s lesson and benefit from having them broken down into individual components within a concept. For example, instruction for the spelling rule for -ff, -ll, -ss, and -zz breaks down into four separate lessons, allowing students more time for application and practice with each phonogram.  

• • Students may read words with -ff, -ll, -ss, and -zz proficiently and instruction can focus on targeting the spelling rule and increasing opportunities for encoding (spelling) practice. 

• Mastery expectations
  Each concept should be introduced through explicit instruction, applied in controlled text, and practiced during dictation exercises before introducing a new concept. Students should achieve proficiency with each concept (typically 80%) before moving on to the next concept. Keeping a copy of the OG scope and sequence in the student’s records can serve as a helpful tracking tool.  

• Individualization
  After administering an assessment to determine which phonics skills the student does and does not know, teachers can look to the sequence to target specific concepts that require direct, systematic, and explicit instruction. A well-designed phonics scope and sequence can meet the diverse needs of all learners, including struggling readers, English language learners, and students with dyslexia. The scope and sequence can be used as a guide to differentiate instruction for small-group or individual intervention.  

• Alignment with standards
  Phonics programs that accompany reading programs should provide a scope and sequence that aligns with the state or district reading standards and curriculum guidelines. The sequence will provide an outline of concepts that should be taught in Tier 1 in grades K-2. Adopting a phonics sequence can also enhance instructional consistency across classrooms.  

• Efficient Use of Time
  Helps teachers plan their lessons and allocate time effectively, ensuring that students are exposed to the appropriate content at the right time.  

• Comprehensive coverage
  When teachers follow an OG sequence to guide their instruction, students will benefit from thorough coverage of all essential skills that scaffold from one grade to the next, ensuring they develop a strong foundation in literacy.

Elevate Your Teaching with IMSE 

IMSE’s Comprehensive OG+ empowers teachers to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Informed by evidence and research, IMSE teaches reading the way science informs us the brain learns. IMSE’s grade-level scope and sequence aligns and adapts to various standards. 

IMSE’s curriculum is rooted in: 

• Systematic, year-long plans for phonics instruction.  

• Direct (explicit) and systematic instruction in developing grade-level phonics skills within and across lessons.  

• Detailed guidance that supports teachers’ delivery of instruction.  

• Frequent and distributed cumulative review of phonics skills with cumulative practice opportunities with decodable text.  

The materials provide systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review to support: 

• Alphabet knowledge and the alphabetic principle 

• The development of oral syllable awareness skills 

• The development of phonemic awareness skills 

• The development of students’ knowledge of grade-level sound-spelling patterns 

• Accurately identifying, reading, and writing regular and irregular high-frequency words  

• Word reading fluency, by using knowledge of grade-level phonics skills to read decodable connected texts with accuracy and automaticity  

What is Orton-Gillingham: https://imse.com/about-us/what-is-orton-gillingham  

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FAQs About an Orton-Gillingham Scope and Sequence 

Is there an Orton-Gillingham scope and sequence?

While there is not one particular scope and sequence identified as the “one and only”, the Orton-Gillingham approach is best delivered using a scope and sequence as a framework to guide literacy instruction. The scope will ensure that the essential components of reading instruction are covered in lessons. The sequence will provide a concept order that moves from foundational to more complex and is cumulative, with new knowledge building upon previously learned concepts. The scope and sequence will guide teachers through phases or levels of learning based on students’ age, grade, and developmental stage so that a strong foundation for literacy can be established. A scope and sequence that supports Orton-Gillingham instruction will also include multi-sensory techniques and flexibility for adapting the sequence to meet individual students’ needs.   

Is there one right phonics scope and sequence?

While researchers agree that using a scope and sequence matters, they do not identify which one is better than another. A strong scope and sequence will provide a framework for phonics instruction, outline a clear progression of concepts, and align with a structured literacy program that is based on the science of reading.    

How can a scope and sequence be helpful for teachers who are implementing the OG approach? 

Using an Orton-Gillingham scope and sequence takes the guesswork out of teaching. A scope and sequence can serve as a tracking system to mark where instruction began and to see which concepts have been taught throughout the year. It also helps teachers to teach the essential components of reading in a direct, systematic, and cumulative way.     

Graham, Steve. (2020). The Sciences of Reading and Writing Must Become More Fully Integrated. Reading Research Quarterly. 55. 10.1002/rrq.332. 

International Dyslexia Association. (2019). Here’s why schools should use Structured Literacy. Volume 8, Issue 2, June 2019. Retrieved from https://dyslexiaida.org/heres-why-schools-should-use-structured-literacy/  

Moats, L. C. (2017). Can prevailing approaches to reading instruction accomplish the goals of RTI? Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 43, 15–22. 

Orton-Gillingham Academy. (2023, May 9). “The Orton-Gillingham Academy Principles of the Orton-Gillingham Approach.” https://www.ortonacademy.org/resources/og-approach-principles-2/  

Reed, Deborah. (2012). Why teach spelling? Center on Instruction. 

Schwartz, Sarah. (2024, January 24). Which States Have Passed ‘Science of Reading’ Laws? What’s in Them? Education Week. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/which-states-have-passed-science-of-reading-laws-whats-in-them/2022/07 

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