WHY WILSON JUST WORDS?

The facts are startling!

More than seven thousand students drop out of school every day. (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2006)

For those students who drop out of High School, there are 3.5 times more likely to be arrested and 60% are unemployed. (Lyon, 2006)

"One of the most commonly cited reasons for this is that students simply do not have the literacy skills to keep up with the high school curriculum, which has become increasingly complex.” (Kamil,2003; Snow and Biancarosa, 2003)

Approximately 40 percent of high school graduates lack the literacy skills employers seek (Achieve, Inc., 2005).

“Approximately 8 million students between 4th and 12th grades …require support.” (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006)

Research has concluded that intensive and skillful instruction at the word – level can make a significant impact. “Under the right conditions, intensive and skillful instruction in basic word reading skills can have a significant impact on the comprehension ability of students in fifth grade and beyond.” (Torgesen et al., 2007)

Wilson Just Words provides a word-level intervention for students in grades 4-12

The Just Words class is not just teaching reading and spelling basics, it is providing the foundational skills that are necessary in today’s economy. Just Words provides a curriculum for the accelerated study of word structure through the six syllable types in English and the most common Latin roots. It is a highly explicit, multisensory decoding and spelling program for students in grades 4 – 12 and adults who do not require intensive intervention but do require explicit decoding and spelling instruction due to word-level deficits.

The Just Words phonics and spelling instruction includes:

Study of English sound system
Phoneme segmentation skills for up to six sounds in a syllable with application for decoding and spelling
Syllable structure including six basic syllable types in English and syllable division patterns used for decoding
Spelling of common Latin suffix endings when added to unchanging basewords
Process for vocabulary study as well as meaning of common Latin roots
Decoding application with phrasing for meaning
Automatic reading and spelling of the first 250 most frequently used words from Edward Fry’s List of High Frequency Words as well as additional high frequency words
Directed, accelerated pacing of Wilson phonics and spelling instruction

As a Tier II program, Just Words is an appropriate intervention in daily small group or class instruction. Just Words is highly effective for those students with gaps in their decoding and spelling and performing below grade level (16- 50th percentile).

Alliance for Excellent Education. (2006). Saving futures, saving dollars: The impact of education on crime reduction and earnings. Washington, DC: Author.

Lyon, G.R., “Middle Grades Literacy Forum.” National Governors Association for Best Practices with support from the U.S. Department of Education. PowerPoint. 2006. NGA Center for Best Practices
Kamil, M. L. (2003). Adolescents and literacy: Reading for the 21st century. Washington, DC:Alliance for Excellent Education.

Snow C. E., & Biancarosa, G. (2003). Adolescent literacy and the achievement gap:What do we know and where do we go from here? New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Achieve, Inc., (2005). Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work? Washington, DC: Author.

Biancarosa, G., & Snow, C. E. (2004). Reading Next—A vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy: A report from Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Torgesen, J. K., Houston, D. D., Rissman, L. M., Decker, S. M., Roberts, G., Vaughn, S., Wexler, J. Francis, D. J, Rivera, M. O., Lesaux, N. (2007). Academic literacy instruction for adolescents: A guidance document from the Center on Instruction. Portsmouth, NH: RMC Research Corporation, Center on Instruction