Fun Clothespin Orton Gillingham Remediation Ideas and More

Incorporating the fun factor can help to make any difficult lesson enjoyable.  I found these cute, little, painted clothespins on Ebay, and I think it will take my lessons to a whole new level.  I have color coded the vowels and consonants as well as the digraphs. There are so many ways I can use these clothespins to enhance my lessons!

It will enhance my lessons for a number of reasons:

• Using these cute, colorful, mini clothespins that measure only 1 1/2 inches by 1/2 an inch will surely engage my learners.
• Opening and closing clothespins also helps to develop fine motor skills.
• Color-coding the letters can help the children differentiate between vowels and consonants.
• Color-coding the letters can also help students discriminate between the different types of syllables.  If you look at the image above, the first two words are closed syllables, the third word is an open syllable, and the final word is a silent-e syllable.
• Placing digraphs on a single clothespin helps the kids to remember that the two letters only make one sound. 

What are some other possibilities?

• You can store them in color-coded, up-cycled pill containers. 
• You can also bring in additional colored clothespins to represent diphthongs (vowel combinations) as well as digraphs.
• You can use large clothespins too.  If you can’t find colored ones, the easiest thing to do would be to make your own.  I have a number of suggestions linked under the next heading.
• You can also use clothespins with whole numbers and integers to help students understand the sequence of the number line and when adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing.  
• You can even use clothespins for grammar.  Students can sort nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs etc. onto the correct clothing hanger.  

Other clothespin ideas found on Pinterest:

• Washi Tape Clothespins Tutorial:

        http://www.makelifelovely.com/2013/04/washi-tape-clothespins-tutorial.html?m=1

• Other Clothespin Ideas:

        http://www.pinterest.com/pin/156500155774780549/ 

• Dying Clothespins:

        http://www.pinterest.com/pin/283304632782361405/

• Painting Clothespins:

        http://www.pinterest.com/pin/267049452877129057/

I will be getting bigger clothespins too as they are better at accommodating more than one letter.  This way I can also create activities for prefixes, roots and suffixes.

If you have any comments or some other cool ideas to do with clothespins, please share them below.

If you are looking for other ways to make your Orton-Gillinghman or phonics based program fun and enjoyable, you can review all my reading remediation materials at DyslexiaMaterials.com

Cheers, Erica

Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn, in Ossining, NY.  To learn more about her products and services, you can go to www.goodsensorylearning.com, www.dyslexiamaterials.com & www.learningtolearn.biz