Remedial Reading
Wilson Language System
Just for fun:
• How many syllables are in the
English language?
• What is the most common vowel
sound?
• What two consonants never end
a word in the English language?
• List three words with split
vowels.
• What do eat, bread, and steak
have in common?
• What is the difference between
a homograph, homophone, and
homonym?
Answers:
•
•
•
•
•
•
6 (closed, open, vce, -le, r-controlled, double vowel)
V&J
EA double vowel –different sounds
Schwa: salad, seven, lesson, Alaska, compliment
Create, violin, reopen
Examples:
homophone: rose & rose - different meanings/pronounced the same
homograph: live & live - pronounced differently/spelled the same
homonym: stalk & stalk- same spelling/same pronunciation/different
meanings
Dyslexia
• http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/09/11/whats-going-on-insidea-dyslexic-students-brain/
Wilson Language System
• Uses a multi-sensory approach to reading and spelling along with
teaching patterns and rules.
• First published in 1988 and has developed into training teachers and
providing materials. Their website provides videos.
• Wilson has published research and testimonials about its’
effectiveness.
• Check www.wilsonlanguage.com
My personal experience:
• Can be modified to suit the students’ needs
• Can be used to “plug holes” so to speak, and go on
• Teaches both reading and spelling, although spelling skills usually follow
behind the reading skills (Wilson promotes 95% word reading vs. 75%-80%
spelling to continue)
• Easy to use as the teachers manual:
• gives explicit directions
• lists skills that you are teaching and gives a broken down type of verbal dictation of
the entire lesson.
• breaks daily lessons into parts to keep the lessons moving
• Provides a lesson book page to actually write plans
• Reading for some older students actually becomes a study of the
English language
Getting Started
• Use the WADE to assess students (see handout)
Wilson Assessment of Decoding and Encoding
• Sounds in isolation including consonants, digraphs/trigraphs, vowel sounds,
welded sounds, and additional sounds (tion, sion, etc.)
• Reading words grouped into syllables (non-sense words too)
• Spelling words also grouped into syllables
• Reading and spelling sight words
• Fluency in a words per minute chart
• Wilson has all students start with either Book 1, Lesson 1 or Lesson 3
• Referred to as Lesson 1.1 or 1.3
• There are also two levels of words, A and B
• A is for elementary, ESL, or older students with limited vocabulary
• B is for students with a varied vocabulary-the Wilson recommends that you start with A level
words with all students and progress to B
• Lessons are referred to as 2.3B = Book Two, Lesson 3, B vocabulary
• Book 1-teaches closed syllable pattern, consonant sounds, basic digraphs, and
short vowel sounds and making these words plural.
• Book 2-teaches closed syllable pattern with welded sounds, blends, and digraphblends.
• Book 3-teaches two and three syllable closed pattern and “scooping” words into
syllables.
Multi-Sensory Part
A large part of the Wilson are the sound
cards:
•
I used a SMART Board with unlimited
letters
•
Sound cards on the chalkboard for easy
manipulation for teaching and student
spelling
•
Wilson also has small magnetic boards
but they are difficult to use for some
students
M
Multi-Sensory
Wilson recommends “tapping-out” sounds
•
Consonants, vowel use one finger
•
Digraphs use two at the same time
I haven’t had much luck with getting older
students to “tap-out” sounds so I use dryerase boards, scooping, and counting
syllables.
I also think that using the SMART Board helps
with the multi-sensory part of the system.
a
p
map
Lesson Plans
Lesson plan pages are provided and the teacher can actually take notes
on student progress during class and continue the day to day lesson
plans as the lesson progresses and decide the next days plans.
Review sounds students are
struggling with or present new
sounds
Review and teach new skills
Use flashcards and play games like “Collect
the cards” or “Around the World”
Use the book to
read words,
sentences.
Spell using the
sound cards
Read stories
from the book
Back to the sound cards and review
sounds in the opposite
Use dry erase boards or paper to spell
words and sentences. Practice
capitalization and punctuation.
Read orally something the students like to teach
comprehension, vocabulary, literary elements.
My own additions:
• The Wilson provides fluency practice in the form of phrases.
• I actually use Wilson controlled stories.
• Students are tested at the beginning of the year and given the story in a file
folder to take home and practice always carrying the fluency in their
backpack.
• I start every class with fluency (which students should have) and actually time
fluency three times a week at the beginning of the year and twice a week
during the second semester.
• I have a file box with all the stories accessible for students in case they forgot
their fluency and for obtaining new fluency stories as they progress.
• Students chart their own fluency progress and eventually, they can time each
other.
• The very first reading of a story is “cold” and every other reading is “hot.”
This is charted in two colors.
Fluency Charting
Fluency
55
50
50
50
40
40
35
30
30
30
25
BOOK 1
25
BOOK 2
BOOK 3
cold
hot
hot2
BOOK 4
Book 1 through Book 3
• Book 1 starts with closed syllables - three sounds. By the end of Book
1, students know: all basic alphabet sounds and short vowel sounds,
plural (s), diagraphs. Examples: gum, sad, fox, chop.
sat---set---sit mad---met---mitt---mutt to practice vowel sounds
• Book 2 adds welded sounds (ang, ank, ong, onk, etc.) plus two-letter
blends, three letter blends, and diagraph blends.
sang---song---sing sank---sink---sunk
• Book 3 moves from one syllable words to two or three syllable words.
sunfish---punish---extinct---athletic
Book 4 through Book 6
• Book 4-starts a new syllable-vce (long vowel sounds)
*e kicks the vowel and the vowel says it’s own name
bathe---reptile---give (v never ends a word)---involve
dissolve---valentine---trombone
• Book 5-open syllable-cv (y as a vowel; first syllable/i/, second syllable
/e/ and . . . the schwa sound)
hi---cry---protect---skyline---pantry---comprehend---compliment
• Book 6-suffix endings (including 3 sounds of –ed) + cle syllable
hopeful---responded---hopelessly---maple---castle
Books 7-12 = more complex concepts
• Examples of concepts taught:
-c or g followed by e, i, or y = soft sounds
-dge & nge fudge & plunge
-tch & ph
-sion/tion
-r-controlled syllable
-double-vowel syllable
-suffix endings that change the original spelling
hope/hop hoping and hopping
• All of the lessons teach exceptions to the rules.
• End.