OG Drill Part 3: Why Older Readers Can't Blend- And How to Fix It

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If your learner can read small words but completely falls apart when it comes to longer academic vocabulary, this might be the missing piece.

In this video, I break down why older struggling readers can’t blend — and exactly how to practice it at home using an Orton-Gillingham blending drill.

Blending is not “just sounding it out.”
It requires:

• Strong working memory
• Fast sound-symbol retrieval
• Auditory processing
• Attention and sequencing
• Automatic letter-sound knowledge

When blending isn’t automatic, students compensate. They guess. They memorize small words. And then they crash when texts get longer and more complex.

This is especially common in older readers, students with dyslexia, ADHD, autism, or language processing differences.

In this video, I show you:

✔ Why blending is hard
✔ How to use a cumulative OG deck
✔ How to correct errors without shutting students down
✔ Why nonsense words matter
✔ How morphology strengthens older readers
✔ How to practice in just 5–10 minutes a night

Strong decoding builds strong comprehension.
If students can’t read the words, they can’t access meaning.

⏱️ Timestamps

0:00 – The hidden blending problem in older readers
1:00 – Why blending is cognitively demanding
2:26 – What blending actually requires (working memory + processing)
3:02 – How to set up the blending drill
4:03 – Clipping sounds (no schwa!)
6:00 – Adding morphology for older readers
7:10 – How to correct errors effectively
9:24 – Why nonsense words matter
11:03 – The bigger picture: decoding vs comprehension

This is Part 3 of my OG Drill Series:

▶ Part 1: The Sound Drill
▶ Part 2: The Visual Drill
▶ Part 3: The Blending Drill (You’re Here)

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