Brookville Middle School in Lynchburg, Virginia, is committed to fostering an environment in which students are equipped with the skills to be successful in school, in their community, and in their future endeavors. To serve their middle school students who are reading below grade level, they implemented Just Words®, a Tier 2 intervention program four years ago. Thanks to Ann Wagoner for sharing her experience with us.
I have an Elementary Education (K-6th grade) teaching license and a M.Ed. as a Reading Specialist. I have been in the classroom for a total of 10 years. This is my second career.
For the general education student who has simply fallen behind, the Just Words program is perfect. I have witnessed an 8th grade student move from behind grade level to reading at a 9th grade level. And my students with ADHD are making positive strides…the fast-paced elements of each lesson support their learning style and encourage engagement.
The systematic way of beginning with individual phonemes and then building each lesson from basic sounds to words, then phrases, then sentences, and finally passages, makes the Wilson curriculum the most effective for improving literacy skills. Students finally begin building a framework for how literacy is literally “Speech to Text” (Moats).
Having the “Just Start” warm-up has created expected routines and a rhythm for each day, which supports engagement. Students come into class knowing what to expect and having the Student Notebook and Challenge Book supports orthographic mapping and practice daily.
With one class we are in Unit 7 and I just introduced the -ive welded card and explained that words in English do not end in “v”, so we have the silent e at the end, but this is a v-e exception. When discussing the two ways of saying “live”, students had the aha moment, realizing why the word can be said two ways, but is spelled the same. Also, focusing on “what is the base word” explains why the silent -e is dropped with adding a vowel suffix to a v-e syllable word. I see little lightbulbs going on above students’ heads from the front of the classroom almost every day!
I appreciate the explicit and sequential nature of the program the most. The Wilson programs align with all I’ve studied about best practices for reading instruction, following the science of reading.
My teacher’s manual is my favorite resource of the curriculum. A close second is the Challenge Workbook every student has. I appreciate how the students are given connected written practice and decodable passages with each unit.
During my master’s work I read about various curriculums that follow the science of reading and one resource referred to Wilson as the “gold standard”! I can say that I agree and would encourage other schools in need of reading intervention programs to consider this amazing curriculum.