Supporting the Struggling Reader: Dyslexia in the Prepared Environment

In this 4-part series, Gina Polly Applegate (C-SLDS, FIT/OGA) will guide teachers, administrators, and specialists through an overview of dyslexia, including how to screen for it, identify students who may be at risk, and support them in the classroom. The series will take a closer look at key areas of literacy, including phonological awareness, phonics, morphology, oral reading fluency, spelling, writing, and editing. You will leave with strategies that are essential for students with dyslexia and beneficial for all learners.

Session 4: Morphology and Oral Reading Fluency

With a strong phonics foundation, children can begin to decode longer words. However, multisyllabic words can be more challenging, as it becomes harder to hold all the sounds in memory while making meaning. This session explores the progression toward reading multisyllabic words and how recognizing common prefixes, roots, and suffixes can support vocabulary growth and reading comprehension. It will also address oral reading fluency, including ways to help students build accuracy and expression through repeated reading.

Gina Polly Applegate is a 6-12 AMI-trained guide with over 20 years of experience working in AMI schools as both a lower el guide and upper el guide as well as an administrator. She is a Certified Structured Literacy Dyslexia Specialist (C-SLDS) through the Center for Effective Reading, an affiliate of the International Dyslexia Association as well as a Fellow-in-Training with The Orton-Gillingham Academy (FIT/OGA). She currently works at Austin Montessori School as the Director of Inclusion and Support and is an elementary consultant for AMI/USA. She became passionate about supporting children with dyslexia in Montessori after her youngest son was diagnosed with dyslexia.