Wilson Reading Program and Why it Works

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Wilson Reading Program

 

The Wilson Reading program was development and published by Barbra Wilson in 1988. I was based on the Orton-Gillingham principles that help teachers directly teach the structure of language to students and adults who have been unable to learn with other teaching strategies, or who may require multisensory language.

This program is appropriate for students in grade 2 and beyond. This step-by-step program gives teachers the tools and confidence they need to work with even the most challenging reader.

In this post I will introduce what the Wilson program does, how it’s measured towards other reading programs, why I love Wilson now and will continue to use it for my students, if it’s UDL compliant and lastly, the pros and cons.

www.wilsonlanguage.com/FS_PROGRAM_WRS.htm

OVERVIEW OF WRS

  • Follows a ten part lesson that addresses decoding, comprehension and oral reading fluency.
  •  Offers a research-based program with more than twenty-five years of data collected and analyzed from school districts implementing the program.
  • Unique sound tapping system
  • Provides two levels of vocabulary that makes the program appropriate for readers at the elementary, middle and high school levels and beyond.
  • Helps teachers by making instructional time interactive and multisensory.
  • Uses criterion-based assessments that measure the student’s progress and success.
  • Instruction is delivered 3-5 times a week for about 60 minutes in a 1:1 or small group setting.

MATERIALS

  1. WRS starter kit
  2. Each student must have his or her own Student Reader for whatever step is being studied.
  3. Magnetic journal with word tiles
  4. Dictation Workbook
  5. Student Workbook

Magnetic Journal taken from wilsonlanguage.com

Great link on how to teach Wilson Reading to an entire class using technology!

Wilson Reading Teaching with Technology by Kelly Mott.wmv – YouTube

 

COMPARED TO

  • Hooked on Phonics
  • Letterland (Online)
  • Orton-Gillingham
  • SPIRE
  • LIPS
  • Smartway Reading and Writing
  • Reading Mastery
  • Lexia (Online)

PROS

  • Varied and keeps students interested
  • (No pictures) students must use word clue to help with their decoding
  • Really works well with students who have Dyslexia
  • Covers all of the main reading essentials such as: decoding, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary and comprehension and mechanics of writing.

CONS

  • No color or pictures in student materials
  • Students with language processing issues or low IQ may struggle with learning the concepts.
  • Teachers must create their own lesson plans
  • Don’t use with students with great decoding skills, but lack fluency.

CRITIQUE

In my opinion the Wilson Reading Program is one of the best teaching resources out there. It allows a student multiple opportunities throughout each lesson to learn and practice each word type and concept in both reading and spelling. Wilson also provides sound cards to help the teacher demonstrate important concepts. Students can see as well as hear the concepts being taught. In addition, Wilson also provides material that teach students to identify serious components such as like vowels, vowel consonants (v-c-e, v-c), syllables, suffix endings (-ed –ing -s) and diagraphs. These materials were designed to help keep the students fully engaged using hands-on multisensory methods while at the same time provide several opportunities for the students to practice then demonstrate through dictation to provide what they learned from each session. It’s a great way for the teacher when tracking each student’s current progress. It explains whether the student fully understanding each of the concept s or which concepts need to be reviewed more for that student to achieve reading and writing success.

This program is a must to use if you have a student who has Dyslexia!

 

REFERENCES

Wilson Reading System Instructor Manual. Barbara Wilson.1996

Wilson, Barbara A. (1998). “Matching student needs to instruction : teaching reading and spelling using the Wilson Reading System”. In Susan Ann Vogel and Stephen M Reder. Learning disabilities, literacy, and adult education. Baltimore: P.H. Brookes Pub. Co. ISBN 978-1-55766-347-4. OCLC 39069274. 

http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/19/01/1901.htm

Helaine, Schupack; Wilson, Barbara A (1997). Reading, writing and spelling : the multisensory structured language approach. Baltimore, Md: International Dyslexia Association,. ISBN 978-0-89214-013-8. OCLC 40476264. 

 

 

 

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