Orton-Spalding Based Method for All Learners-

English Reading, Spelling & Writing Language Arts

1. YesPhonics Program Based on Four Brilliant Revolutionary Educator’s Methods

2. Memory Research

3. Phonogram Sound Sequences & Decoding

4. English: Sound/Symbol/Rules System

5. Spell and Write to Read

6. Explicit, Systematic, Direct Multi-sensory Spalding Based Method

7. Blends, Word Families, Whole Language, Implicit Phonics, Picture Guessing & Invented Spelling

8. Dyslexia

9. Labeled Students & Incarcerated Juveniles

10. English as a Second Language (ESL): Write and Spell to Read and Speak

11. The YesPhonics Program Incorporates the Guidelines for:Reading First of the No Child Left Behind Act

1. YesPhonics Program Based on Four Brilliant Revolutionary Educator’s Method

Dr. Samuel Orton, a famous neurologist, isolated the 70 most used phonograms, the "Phonics Codes", of the English language. A "phonogram" is either one letter or a set combination of letters which represent one or more single 'voiced' sounds in a given word. The phonograms are the 26 alphabet letters and 46 multi-letter teams  consisting of 2-4 letters. Each phonogram has 1-6 single sounds. 

The English alphabet is a sound/symbol system. It contains 26 letters that singly and in combination represent the 45 sounds heard in English speech. The 70 Orton Phonograms represent the common spelling patterns of the 45 sounds. With these phonograms and the 29 simple Spalding spelling rules, 93-97% of the English language is phonetically accurate. 

All letters and letter-combinations say a single "voiced" sound. Reading is saying single "voiced" sounds in rapid succession. When the phonograms are taught there is simply no need to teach the single "voiced" sounds of hundreds of blends (br=/b/+/r/) and endless word families (at, bat, cat). These spelling patterns are quickly and easily learned with the phonograms and spelling words.

The phonograms are taught explicitly. Explicit phonics moves from the smallest part to the whole. Students first learn the phonograms (letters and combinations of letters) and their sounds. They then build and recombine them into syllables and words.

The phonograms teach Phonemic Awareness which is literally “sound” awareness. It is the understanding that words are made up of sounds and being able to hear, recognize, break apart and manipulate the individual sounds that make up a word. For example, it is the ability to recognize that the word “mother” is made up of the separate sounds /m/-/o/-/th/-/er/. Children vary greatly in their natural ability to hear the sounds within words. Many do not realize the words they hear break apart into smaller sounds (phonemes). Hearing the individual sounds within a word is difficult because when we speak, we effortlessly blend all the sounds together which hides the phonetic nature of spoken language. In order to read and spell fluently these sounds (phonemes) must first be taught systematically and explicitly in isolation which is easily accomplished with the phonograms.

All of the sounds of each phonogram are learned at once and filed in the computer brain in one folder for easy recall. All of the sounds of the phonograms must be known from the beginning for reading  and writing of common words ("all" says the 3rd sound of the letter "a"; "by" says the 2nd vowel sound of the letter "y"; "do" says the 4th sound of the letter "o").

Teaching the names of the letters first is confusing and non-productive. We don't talk, read or spell by saying and thinking  names of letters.

A most important skill is correct pronunciation in clear, distinct speech. The phonograms are a direct aid to this

Leonard P. Ayers, was a successful teacher, school administrator, statistician, researcher and director of the Department of Education. Dr. Ayers ferreted out the thousand words in most common use in the everyday world and has by numerous tests arranged these in the order of increasing difficulty, marking off the points at which each successive grade could use the spelling list. Teaching spelling with the words sequenced by use frequency,  the way the language works, is important for a complete education.

Romalda Spalding, was a teacher and a student of Dr. Orton. She discovered that her learning disabled students, using Orton's methods, were learning to read better than her other students. Using Orton's methods and phonograms, an Extended Ayer's Spelling Word List, 29 simple spelling rules and word markings, she developed the highly successful multi-sensory, phonetic language arts method known as the "Spalding Method", set forth in the teachers textbook "The Writing Road to Reading" which is designed for all students. The multi-sensory method is taught by seeing, hearing, and saying the phonograms and spelling words while writing them from dictation. 

Jean Zier, a long time "Spalding Method" teacher and curriculum director in an award winning Montana public school, developed, integrated and school tested the concept of illustrations with captions that depict the sound sequence of the phonogram. For fast, accurate and fluent reading it is vital to know the phonogram sounds in the order of use frequency. The "key words" of the caption, an easy-to-learn mnemonic device, gives the sound sequence of the phonogram which is easily and quickly learned never to be forgotten.

In the first 5 weeks the students learn 56 phonograms and 150 of the most commonly used words in the order of use frequency the way the language works. Potential reading abilities now include hundreds of words which are made up of the same spelling patterns. All students not neurologically impaired will start reading literature of their age-interest which educates and develops a love of reading.  

2. Memory Research

Memory research has verified the efficiency of teaching all of the sounds of the phonogram at one time, rather than in layers. When the phonogram sounds are introduced together, the brain can store the information in one place for easy retrieval. The easiest way to learn to read and spell is to know all of the sounds of the phonogram. This is needed quickly for simple and often used words, such as in the word "all". If the student doesn't know the three sounds of the phonogram "a" it isn't possible for them to read this word.

3. Phonogram Sound Sequences & Decoding

Some phonograms have the same sound in every word in which they appear. Others have several sounds, and deciding which sound to use is one of the skills need for decoding (reading ) English. The sounds of the phonograms are in order of their frequency of use. For instance, the sound sequence for the phonogram "a" is 1./a/ (have), 2./a/ (letter name), 3./ah/ (ball). It says its first sound about 70 percent of the time, its second sound almost 25 percent of the time and its third sound less often. When the students try the first sound in a word they will most often be right. If the first sound doesn't work, then they should try the second sound, and the third sound last.

We cannot be concentrating on identification of letter sounds at the same time we are trying to understand what we are reading. For skillful comprehension, readers first must be able to sound out letters and spelling patterns quickly and automatically. As phonics skills develop and become automatic, focus begins to shift naturally from decoding to meaning. Equipped with these skills, students often seem to read whole sentences at a time. Explicit phonics instruction is a critical step leading to a truly balanced "whole word" reading.

4. English: Sound/Symbol/Rules System

The sound/symbol relationships and spelling rules that should be taught with the phonograms and spelling words are highly relevant because those that do not know them cannot learn to spell except by whole-word memorization. About 10% of students have enough photographic memory to do quite well. Around 30% lack this visual ability and another 50% cannot perform this task well. The failure to teach English as a sound/symbol/rules system causes sustained frustration, slow thought, low self-esteem and failure for at least 60% of writers and readers.

Teaching the 72 Orton Phonograms, the 29 Spalding Spelling Rules with the Extended Ayers Spelling List of the 1,000+ most commonly used words taught in the order of use frequency explains most spelling problems in the English language of the thousands of words that we use most often.

In order for beginning students to learn to construct literate English sentences they must learn spelling words taught in the order of use frequency, not only words in categories or of the letters/phonograms being taught. From the beginning the students construct oral and written sentences and paragraphs using the words from their Spelling Notebooks.

In the spelling lessons the students obtain the basic knowledge of how the written language works. At the completion of the spelling list at the end of the 3rd grade the student can decode (read/pronounce) the longest of unfamiliar words syllable by syllable. At this point, students are able to read anything in their comprehensions vocabularies, about 30,000 words. Compare this with the 900 words third-graders are able to read using Whole Language.

Spelling must be learned in syllables along with the spelling rules. This knowledge is a real short-cut to spelling accuracy. Learning one rule for many words is much easier than learning each word individually. The importance of the spelling rules may be demonstrated with the "Silent Final E's". The language  has many words that end in a silent e with no apparent reason. The Silent Final e's have at least 5 functions in English: 1.The silent e "lets the vowel say its name (time). 2. English words do not end in u or v (true, love). 3. The e makes c say /s/ and allows the g to say /j/ (dance, large). 4. Part of the -le suffix (lit.tle). Every syllable must a  vowel. 5. Odd Job e: dye, are, come. Any not listed above. (city, cycle).

The phonogram sound sequences are incorporated with the spelling rules. For instance, the phonogram "c"  has two sounds,/k/ and /s/. Most of the "c" words use the  /k/ sound (cat). The student learns to use the /s/ sound when the word is taught with the rule: The "c" says /s/ before e, i or y (cent, city, cycle).

5. Spell and Write to READ!

Phonics awareness and auditory processing skills can be more precisely and efficiently taught through spelling rather than randomly taught through "implicit" phonics applied to pronouncing words for reading. Phonics for reading alone gives only approximate pronunciations for many words. Early learning of correct spelling patterns (while avoiding programming of misinformation such as "invented" spellings), allows Elementary students to write with increased precision and creativity. As a result, they can then read at their interest and speaking vocabulary levels enjoying quality literature with its obvious benefits.

 6. Explicit, Systematic, Direct, Multi-sensory Spalding Based Method

Explicit: Explicit or direct phonics moves from the smallest parts to the whole. Students first learn the phonograms (letters and combinations of letters ) and their sounds. They then build and recombine them into syllables and words. Systematic: This method is a complete sequential teaching method that unclutters and unifies English language arts. Direct: This method is direct with an exact dictated dialogue for the phonograms and spelling words. The students use only paper and pencil and their minds. Multi-Sensory: When a multi-sensory approach of seeing, hearing, saying and writing the phonograms and spelling words is used, then all students will learn whether they are auditory, visual or kinesthetic. A multi-sensory method has a synergistic effect of addressing the stronger learning mode while reinforcing the weakest, it is effective for beginning, remedial and advanced students.

7. Blends, Word Families, Whole Language, Implicit Phonics, Picture Guessing & Invented Spelling

Blends: When teaching the phonograms there is no need to teach hundreds of blends. Blends are two or more phonograms "blended" together, each letter retains its own sound value (br=/b/+/r/). Blending is taught in spelling and reading. Word Families: Recitation of short/long vowel words such as at, bat, cat, hat is a fragmented and incomplete process of learning to read. These spelling patterns are quickly and easily learned with the phonograms and spelling words. Whole Language, Implicit Phonics, Text Clues & Picture Guessing: This is the most widely used form of reading instruction used in schools today. It moves from the whole to the smallest parts. Three hundred words a year are taught as a whole. The student must make her "best guess" as to what the word is by its shape, beginning and ending letters, any context clues form the rest of the sentence or accompanying pictures. Implicit Phonics: Implicit phonics breaks down from the whole to the part. Many current programs labeled "systematic contextualized phonics", "balanced", "embedded phonics", "literature based", and "integrated language arts" in fact use implicit phonics. Invented Spelling: Accurate spelling is the road to reading, it corresponds to printed material and it is critical to the reading process. Incorrect spelling practice "wires' the brain wrong and tends to be permanent, it is strongly associated with reading disability.

8. Dyslexia

In medical references, dyslexia is essentially defined as "failure to see or hear similarities or differences in letters or words.....a tendency to substitute words for those he cannot see." The present definitions refers to reading disorders known or unknown, frequently resulting in letter or word reversals. A compelling hypothesis is that those students who no longer had dyslexic symptoms after having been taught explicit phonics were not dyslexic to begin with, but only suffering from a lack in their educational training. Students who are dyslexic need more time and practice to develop good reading skills, but the end result will be fluency in reading with excellent comprehension.

9. Labeled Students & Incarcerated Juveniles

In 1986 the Gallegos Elementary School in Tucson, AZ had 623 students with 46% of the intermediate students in Special Education, most classified as "learning disabled". After using Ramalda Spalding's "The Writing Road to Reading" for just one year, only four remained in Special Education.

After a two-year study of the causes of imprisonment of juveniles, Michael S. Brunner concluded that the cause was "sustained frustration" from the inability to learn to read in public schools. His recommendation: Teach a complete multi-sensory phonetic reading method such as the  "Spalding Method". "Retarding America, The Imprisonment of Potential" by Michael S. Brunner (1993)

10. English as a Second Language (ESL): Write and Spell to Read and Speak

English is the global language in today’s world. It is estimated that over a billion people are in the process of learning English. It is the main language of books, newspapers, science & technology, diplomacy, international competitions, pop music and advertising. It is also the language of media and business - with more than 80% of international companies using it for communication.

Carmen Cobbett , B.SC., is a Certified TEFL Instructor and Graduate of University of Michigan. Her interest in teaching English as a foreign language started when she was an English tutor at the university’s English Composition Board (EBC). She has served as an Examination Officer for several overseas English Entrance Exams that assess ESL university applicants to US universities. She and her family moved from Michigan in the USA to Singapore where she now tutors all ages and levels of students in ESL. She says:

Carmen uses the Phonics for English Reading, Spelling & Writing Express Program, she says, “when I dictate the phonograms”. Dictation is saying and blending the sounds of the word, phonogram-by-phonogram, syllable-by-syllable for the student to write without previously viewing the word. She is saying that the students learn better pronunciation with this method, she infers that they learn to speak through writing the words from dictation. Which of course they do; the same as they learn to read by learning to spell. So the sequence is: Write and Spell to Read and Speak.

Whole Language (Word) simply does not give the basic word building tools of English for native or English as a Second Language students to acquire fluent written and spoken English. The students must know the 45 single individual sounds heard in English speech. (The DVD  is helpful to give this phonetic awareness). They must have the common spelling patterns as presented in the 72 Orton Phonograms that teach the systematic and predictable relationships between the letters of the written language and the individual sounds of the spoken Language.. The phonograms are taught explicitly; explicit phonics moves from the smallest part to the whole. The students first learn the phonograms (letters and set combinations of letters) and their single sounds. They then build and recombine them into syllables and words.

Spelling must be taught in syllables with spelling rules. The Spalding method teaches words that are not phonetically accurate with the ‘Schwa‘ muffled vowel in unstressed syllable (/uh/) and ‘Think to Spell’ a memory device to help remember word spellings. The word is sounded and spelled the way it is written; such as in the word ‘a.gain’, the vowel ‘a’ is stressed to say its letter name at the end of the syllable, the phonogram ‘ai’ 2-letter/a/ is pronounced as ‘a’ (letter name) then the word is said the way that the culture says it (British: a.gain is accepted, American: uses the schwa /uh/gen). The Spalding word markings identify the phonogram’s sound in the sequence, multi-letter phonograms and indicates spelling rules that give the student clues to its correct pronunciation.

A picture dictionary is especially helpful for ESL students of all ages. Each word is defined with a picture and is organized in alphabetical order; it can be used to copy for worksheets for learning words and making games. In a space that is usually provided, the words may be written in syllables and marked for a permanent pronunciation record. It is a useful source for leaning words beginning with phonograms such as ‘wr, th, sh, wor, ch, ph, qu, kn, wh’.

Students studying English quickly acquire a grasp of the language if it is presented by the "Spalding Method". Without this logical approach, English is difficult for them. This method is being used in many countries to teach English. 

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11. Attention Educators PDF: The YesPhonics Program incorporates the guidelines for:" Reading First” of the No Child Left Behind Act