By Karla O’Brien

One of the most essential and enduring components of an Orton-Gillingham (OG) lesson is the 3-Part Drill, a simple, structured activity that plays a big role in helping students develop automatic recognition and recall of letters and sounds. Though it only takes a few minutes, this classic routine packs a powerful punch when it comes to strengthening the neural pathways needed for fluent reading and spelling.

Let’s explore what the 3-Part Drill is, how it works, and why it’s a cornerstone in structured literacy instruction.

What Is the 3-Part Drill?

The 3-Part Drill is a multimodal routine designed to reinforce sound-symbol associations. It targets the most foundational skill of decoding: linking sounds (phonemes) to letters or letter combinations (graphemes) and retrieving them automatically. This drill uses visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modalities to deepen learning.

It consists of three parts and is included as a key component of every lesson in the Slant System™, our structured literacy approach grounded in Orton-Gillingham principles.

Part 1: Visual Drill (Sound-Symbol Recall) a.k.a. “Look & Say”

Purpose: To build automatic recognition of graphemes and their associated sounds.

How it works: The teacher presents letter cards (graphemes), and the student quickly says the corresponding sound. For example, when shown a card with m, the student says /m/. This is done quickly and sequentially to encourage fast retrieval.

Fluent readers need to instantly recognize graphemes and know their sounds. The visual drill—what we call Look & Say in Slant System™—speeds up this process by training the brain to respond automatically, reducing cognitive load during real reading.

Part 2: Auditory Drill (Symbol-Sound Recall) a.k.a. “I Say It, You Say It”

Purpose: To strengthen the ability to match spoken sounds to their written forms.

How it works: The teacher says a sound (e.g., /sh/), and the student writes the letter or letter combination (e.g., sh) on paper or a whiteboard. This builds encoding skills, the foundation of spelling.

 This component develops the brain’s ability to take what it hears and represent it in writing, a skill struggling readers and spellers often lack. It reinforces the reverse direction of Part 1. In the Slant System™, we refer to this auditory drill as I Say It, You Say It, a simple, effective call-and-response routine that builds strong sound-symbol connections.

Part 3: Blending Drill a.k.a. “Martian Words”

Purpose: To practice decoding and blending sounds into whole words.

How it works: The teacher displays three to four phonogram cards (e.g., s – a – t) and moves them slowly across a blending board while the student blends the sounds aloud to read the word (sat). Sometimes nonsense words are used to ensure students are decoding rather than guessing.

Fluent decoding is the ultimate goal. The blending drill puts sound-symbol knowledge into action and helps students build confidence in applying their skills to real (and unfamiliar) words. In the Slant System™, we call this part Martian Words because students often blend nonsense words that sound like something from outer space, making it both effective and fun!

Why Use the 3-Part Drill?

The 3-Part Drill builds automaticity, which is essential for fluent reading and accurate spelling. When students can recall letter sounds and spellings quickly and effortlessly, they free up brainpower to focus on comprehension, expression, and more advanced literacy skills.

It’s also highly adaptable. Teachers can tailor the drill to individual students’ needs by adjusting the graphemes used, introducing new ones, and recycling previously taught patterns. The repetition, multimodal input, and immediate feedback make it a powerhouse in structured literacy instruction.

That’s why, in the Slant System™, the 3-Part Drill (Look & Say, I Say It, You Say It, and Martian Words) is included as a core part of every lesson. This ensures students have consistent and repeated opportunities to strengthen essential decoding and encoding skills through targeted, multimodal practice.

Get Started! Download FREE grapheme cards and the 3-Step Drill in Slant Sytem™

Check out our YouTube channel for tutorials on doing the 3-Step Drill

Tips for Success

• Keep it brisk. The drill should move quickly to encourage fluency.

• Be consistent. Use it regularly as part of a structured lesson routine.

• Target student needs. Focus on the graphemes and phonemes the student is currently learning or has not yet mastered.

• Make it multimodal. The student should be seeing, hearing, saying and writing the letters simultaneously, as much as possible.

The 3-Part Drill might seem simple, but it’s a classic for a reason. It’s a fast, focused way to ensure your students get the repetition they need in a format that sticks. By engaging multiple modalities (visual, auditory, and tactile-kinesthetic) and reinforcing foundational skills, the 3-Part Drill helps lay the groundwork for confident, capable readers.

Whether you’re a seasoned OG instructor or new to structured literacy, don’t overlook the power of this small but mighty routine. Automaticity doesn’t happen by accident, it’s built, one sound and symbol at a time. And in the Slant System™, we make sure that work happens every single day, with Look & Say, I Say It, You Say It, and a little help from some Martian Words.