Tania Miller, Westbridge Academy’s Reading Specialist helps a student learn to read.
When students struggle with reading, comprehension, or vocabulary, it affects nearly every area of academics. Some students may have learning disabilities such as dyslexia and others may have received poor reading instruction in the past.
Spearheaded by Tania Miller, Westbridge Academy’s Reading Specialist, the school has launched a new reading initiative, and the opportunity to receive one-on-one reading intervention to help increase their reading skills. Miller uses the Orton-Gillingham® approach, an evidence-based approach to teaching reading, spelling, and writing, and is primarily used with students who have difficulty learning to read from other methods. Orton–Gillingham® teaches the connections between sounds and letters. It is effective with students of all ages and considers the learning style and needs of each particular learner.
The Orton-Gillingham® approach is multisensory, meaning it simultaneously engages students in auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, and visual activities in order to enhance their ability to process, retain, and apply learned information. Students are taught individually or in small groups with others at similar skill levels. “This approach uses multiple pathways to help kids learn. For example, students might learn the letter “s” by seeing it, saying its name and sounding it out while writing it with their fingers in kinetic sand,” said Miller.
