Courses, Events, & Resources

Dates: August 2-6, 2021
Times: 8:30 AM- 3:30 PM EST
Instructor: Laurie J. Cousseau, ATF/AOGPE, CALT, IDA CDT, MA Reading, Licensed Reading Specialist K-12
Cost: $1,595 
Location: Virtual

This course will only be available virtually.

This 36-hour course meets the requirements for Orton-Gillingham Classroom Educator designation with the AOGPE. It is the first step in preparing teachers to use the OG approach in the classroom setting and allows teachers to use direct instruction to bring a multi-sensory, structured, and linguistic phonics-based approach into the mainstream classroom. The curriculum includes: dyslexia and reading disorders; the rationale of the OG approach; phonological awareness, phonics, syllable division patterns, and spelling; elements of multi-sensory instruction, diagnostic-prescriptive teaching, and lesson planning; and AOGPE membership structure and requirements.

*This course does not include the practicum, which is required for Academy membership at the Classroom Educator Level; the practicum can be arranged for an additional fee.

Note: The order of topics is approximate. Some topics will fill more than one session; others will be developed throughout the course. Videos will be included where appropriate.

Course Expectations: Complete attendance and active participation; summaries of readings will be required in order for participants to apply at the Classroom Educator level of the AOGPE but will not be required during the five-day course. Although the course is ungraded, expect daily quizzes, review, and lesson plan activities.

*There will be a minimum of 7 students in this course.

Materials will be mailed prior to the start of class. 

Registration will close on July 16.

Register Here

If your school district will be paying, please reach out to info@southportcolab.org. All district payments need to be received at least 10 business days prior to the start of the course. 

Dates: August 9-13, 2021
Times: 8:30 AM- 3:30 PM
Instructor: Laurie J. Cousseau,  ATF/AOGPE, CALT, IDA CDT, MA Reading, Licensed Reading Specialist K-12
Cost: $1,595 
Location: Virtual

Description: The Associate Level coursework is designed to hone the trainee's ability to provide diagnostic and prescriptive instruction in a one-to-one remedial setting. In addition, it exposes the trainee to more sophisticated levels of language instruction than can be provided in the Classroom Educator course.

The Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators (AOGPE) requires a total of 60 hours of coursework at the Associate Level. Trainees who have already taken Classwork Educator have met the first half of that requirement.  This 36-hour follow-up course will exceed the Academy's requirements for Associate Level coursework.

Associate Part II coursework will include but is not limited to morphology; assessment, both formal and informal; vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency; and the writing process. An additional emphasis will be on developing lesson plans and student profiles in preparation for the trainee's application to the AOGPE at the Associate Level.

***This course does NOT include the practicum, which is required for Academy membership at the Associate Level.  The practicum can be arranged for an additional fee.

Curriculum: AOGPE Associate Level guidelines

Note: The order of topics is approximate. Some topics will fill more than one session; others will be developed throughout the course. Videos will be included where appropriate.

Those who complete the course will receive a certificate for 36 hours.

Register Here

Registration closes on July 16. There is a minimum of 7 participants in this course.

If your school district will be paying, please reach out to info@southportcolab.org. All district payments need to be received at least 10 business days prior to the start of the course. 

The Orton-Gillingham Academy (OGA) places great value on the mentorship model, which involves the application of information and teaching skills acquired through the formal coursework.  The practicum includes: ongoing support by the Supervising Fellow; observations of the trainee teaching complete lessons in a variety of settings; written and verbal feedback after the observations; completion of required readings; development of a teaching portfolio; and support for the application to the OGA for certification. Participants will also be encouraged to participate in ongoing coursework and professional development through attending additional course offerings at the Southport CoLab.  Teachers who are already working in school environments are welcome to complete their practicums within their home school environments; teachers working in private practice may complete their practicums in their own teaching sites.  Observations may be conducted onsite or remotely, depending on individual circumstances.  The OGA has set specific guidelines for the practicums at each level of membership to ensure that the teacher is competent to instruct using the Orton-Gillingham Approach. More information about those requirements can be found on the OGA website:  https://www.ortonacademy.org/.

Cost: $2,750

**all observations will be done virtually during the 2020-2021 school year. 

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Learn How to Build a Strong Literacy Foundation Through Fun Activities

Complete at Your Leisure

We are excited to share the first two early literacy modules for preschool educators, Rapid Naming and Conversation! Each module aligns with both the Orton-Gillingham approach and the National Early Literacy Panel’s findings. Each video includes an overview of the topic and examples of actionable activities that you can do with your students to strengthen their pre-literacy foundation.  

Each module includes:

• A 40-50 minute video that you can watch at a time that’s convenient for you
• A rubric
• Written feedback on a short (5-minute or less) video that you submit

“Early literacy skills have a clear and consistently strong relationship with later conventional literacy skills, such as decoding, oral reading, fluency, reading comprehension, writing, and spelling. Even before children start school, they can become aware of systematic patterns of sounds in spoken language, manipulate sounds in words, recognize words and break them apart into smaller units, learn the relationship between sounds and letters, and build their oral language and vocabulary skills. These are all skills that the National Early Literacy Panel found to be precursors to children’s later growth in the ability to decode and comprehend text, to write, and to spell.”        

 -National Early Literacy Panel     

The modules will be available to you for a year after purchase. Upon successful completion of each module, you will receive a certificate for 1.5 hours of professional development.

Cost: $50 per module

If you have a group of ten or more or would like an whole school training please reach out to Suzanne Lang at slang@southportcolab.org

Register Here