This 16.5-hour course provides participants with an overview of the Wilson Reading System (WRS) and serves as the prerequisite for WRS Level I Certification Training. This course examines the intensive intervention reading instruction necessary for students in grade two and above with persistent and significant phonological-coding deficits. Participants learn about dyslexia (indicators, misconceptions, neurobiological aspects, and prevalence), typical versus atypical reading acquisition, appropriate student identification and placement, and key components and principles of instruction, including the factors necessary for high-quality program implementation. How to teach phonology (including phonemic awareness), morphology, and orthography in an integrated, explicit, systematic, and multisensory way is demonstrated and practiced during the course. Participants explore the standard ten-part WRS Lesson Plan and practice planning, delivering, and individualizing a WRS Lesson while receiving modeling and feedback from a Wilson® Credentialed Trainer (W.C.T.).

Course Objectives

Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:

• Define dyslexia and      understand its prevalence and impact on the acquisition of reading skills      and cognitive processes.

• Explain the process of      identifying students with a language-based learning disability, such as      dyslexia, or other characteristics that indicate the need for intensive,      multisensory instruction with the WRS.

• Understand the Response to      Intervention (RTI) model and how to implement it.

• Demonstrate understanding of      the key components of WRS Instruction: alphabetic knowledge, rapid naming      skills/word retrieval, sound-symbol relationships, word identification,      accuracy, automaticity, phonology, morphology, orthography, fluency,      vocabulary, and comprehension.

• Demonstrate understanding of      the WRS principles of instruction: direct, explicit, structured,      sequential, integrated, multisensory, synthetic, analytical, diagnostic,      prescriptive, mastery/automaticity, cumulative, metacognitive, and      emotionally sound.

• Identify the lesson      components and procedures for Lesson Block 1 (word study/foundational      reading skills), Lesson Block 2 (spelling/foundational writing skills),      and Lesson Block 3 (fluency/comprehension) of the WRS Lesson Plan.

• Practice and prepare a      ten-part WRS Lesson Plan.

Participants may enroll in the WRS Level I Certification Training or the online course WRS Intensive Instruction for the Non-Responsive Reader (Steps 1-6) within five years of completing a WRS Introductory Course.