Just Words^® Workshops

The Just Words^® Launch Workshop provides the practice and guidance needed to effectively begin teaching the Just Words curriculum. This full-day workshop is highly interactive and designed to allow for teacher input and active engagement via activities and discussions. The workshop covers an overview of the program, a dive into the materials and resources needed to teach Just Words, and a look at how to use the instructor Manual, including practice planning a lesson. It wraps up with a chance to see Just Words in action, debrief and look at “next steps” that will help participants kick off their Just Words instruction.

Prerequisite None

Duration One full day (five instructional hours)

Course Objectives

Upon completion of the course, participants are able to:

• Identify the skills taught in Just Words: phonics and word study (phonemic awareness, six basic syllable types in English, spelling rules, common Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes), vocabulary study, and high frequency words.
• Understand the principles of instruction: explicit, sequential, and cumulative instruction that engages multiple learning modalities using multisensory instruction, repetition, and immediate, specific feedback.
• Identify and understand the use of all materials in the Just Words Teacher’s Kit, and have a sense of how to find and use the many extended resources available on the Just Words^® Learning Community (membership included with participation in this workshop).
• Use the Instructor Manual to prepare a daily learning plan and practice lesson activity procedures;
• Visualize the flow and pace of a full Just Words lesson completed with fidelity.
• Identify students who may be appropriate for a Just Words class, and understand how to assess students’ progress in the class by using Progress Checks at the beginning of each Unit and with the Unit Test at the end of each Unit.

Materials

• Just Words Launch Workshop Course Booklet (provided)
• Just Words Teacher’s Kit, or at minimum Just Words Instructor Manual (recommended)
• Wilson Academy^® Just Words Learning Community membership provided after workshop registration

Completion Requirements

An individual must successfully complete the following requirements:

• Complete workshop and participate in all workshop activities
• Provide workshop feedback via the course evaluation form

The Just Words^® Virtual Launch Workshop provides the practice and guidance needed to effectively begin teaching the Just Words curriculum. This full-day workshop is highly interactive and designed to allow for teacher input and active engagement via activities and discussions throughout. The workshop covers an overview of the program, a dive into the materials and resources needed to teach Just Words, and a look at how to use the instructor Manual, including practice planning a lesson. It wraps up with a chance to see Just Words in action, debrief and look at what “next steps” will help participants kick off their Just Words instruction.

Prerequisite None

Duration One full day (four instructional hours)

Course Objectives

Upon completion of the course, participants are able to:

• Identify the skills taught in Just Words: phonics and word study (phonemic awareness, six basic syllable types in English, spelling rules, common Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes), vocabulary study, and high frequency words.
• Understand the principles of instruction: explicit, sequential, and cumulative instruction that engages multiple learning modalities using multisensory instruction, repetition, and immediate, specific feedback.
• Identify and understand the use of all materials in the Just Words Teacher’s Kit, and have a sense of how to find and use the many extended resources available on the Just Words^® Learning Community (membership included with participation in this workshop).
• Use the Instructor Manual to prepare a daily learning plan and practice lesson activity procedures;
• Visualize the flow and pace of a full Just Words lesson completed with fidelity.
• Identify students who may be appropriate for a Just Words class, and understand how to assess students’ progress in the class by using Progress Checks at the beginning of each Unit and with the Unit Test at the end of each Unit.

Materials

• Just Words Launch Workshop Course Booklet (provided)
• Just Words Teacher’s Kit, or at minimum Just Words Instructor Manual (recommended)
• Wilson Academy^® Just Words Learning Community membership provided after workshop registration

Completion Requirements

An individual must successfully complete the following requirements:

• Complete workshop and participate in all workshop activities
• Provide workshop feedback via the course evaluation form

Student identification and proper student placement is critical to the success of a Just Words^® class. The program is designed for students and adults who have mild to moderate gaps in their decoding and spelling proficiency but do not require intensive intervention. It is recommended that the Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency-2 (TOSWRF) and the Word Identification and Spelling Test (WIST) are appropriate measures for screening and placing students in a Just Words Class. This half day workshop is appropriate when using these measures and provides background information and hands-on practice administering the tests.

Prerequisite None

Duration Half day (three hours)

Course Objectives

Upon completion of the course, participants are able to:

• Understand the importance of proper student placement in a Just Words class.
• Name the steps to identify and place students in a Just Words class.
• Identify the purpose of the Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency -2 (TOSWRF-2) and how it can be used to help screen for Just Words placement.
• Identify the purpose of the Word Identification and Spelling Test (WIST) and how it can be used to appropriately place students in a Just Words class.
• Understand how to administer and score the TOSWRF-2 and WIST.
• Properly identify and group students in a Just Words class using the TOSWRF-2 and WIST.

Materials

• Just Words Screening and Placement Workshop Course Booklet (provided)
• TOSWRF-2 (recommended)
• WIST (recommended)

Completion Requirements

An individual must successfully complete the following requirements:

• Complete three hour workshop
• Participate in all workshop activities
• Provide workshop feedback via the course evaluation form