
Advanced Course – July 13-16, 2026 (draft)
Course Details:
Location: Four sessions online via Zoom
Lead Instructor: Catherine Thompson
- Dates: July 13-16, 2025
- Format: 5.5 hours of asynchronous learning to complete before the first day of class. 14.5 hours of online instruction.
- Hours: 8am-12pm PST Monday through Wednesday, 8am to 11:30pm PST on Thursday.
- Reservation Deposit: $150 reserves place. (Non-refundable after deadline.)
- Tuition: $655 plus $68.12 of required sales tax. Tuition includes a hard copy of the Wired for Reading Advanced Teacher’s Manual that will be mailed to the address you provide at registration.
- Tuition Payment Deadline: June 22, 2026
- Late Fee: $55 will be assessed after the tuition deadline.
- Alum: $155 plus $16.12 required sales tax (Those that have completed this level course in the past are considered alums.)
Related
Introductory Course Syllabus
The syllabus represents a typical school-year class. There are five asynchronous videos that need to be completed prior to the first live session. Each day we will cover the material listed, however we have observed that the exact timeframe needed for each topic varies a bit for each group. It is a core belief of Wired for Reading to plan extensively but remain flexible to respond to the needs of participants. We adjust the pace of learning to meet the unique needs of each class. To increase active engagement and model recommended best practices, there will be extensive turn and talk and reflective review of material, as well as large group and small group practice and application of concepts.
The Big Picture (Completed Asynchronously)
Required Asynchronous Videos: The following videos provide critical background knowledge and lay the foundation of success for the entire course.
Be sure to view all five videos before we meet for the live portion of the class. Take notes on questions you may have to share the first day of live instruction.
Video 1 – Welcome to the course This video gives a brief break down of the parts of the Wired for Reading
Introductory Course. It is less than five minutes long.
Video 2 – Overview of the Teacher Essentials
This video briefly breaks down the different parts of the Teacher Essentials section. It is less than five minutes long.
Video 3 – Updated Why Can I Read This? Dyslexia 101 Presentation
This video covers an introduction to Laura and the newly updated Dyslexia 101. It is about 2 hours long with breaks.
Video 4 – The Teacher Packet and the rest of Teacher Essentials concepts
This video covers the following concepts. It is about 2.5 hours long with breaks.
- Baddeley & Hitch’s model of the Working Memory
- Word Triangle & Response to Intervention
- Wired For Reading® Teaching philosophy
- Wired For Reading® Scope and Sequence Charts:
- The Three-Story House of English
- The Learning Spiral
- Brief History of the English Language
- Spelling Characteristics Based on Word Origin
Video 5 – The Learning Spiral
This video covers the Learning Spiral organizer. It is 11 minutes long.
Day One (Thursday): Linguistic Mouth Foundation (a fun, friendly, deep dive into linguistics)
- 3:45 Welcome and Review
- 4:15 The Reading Brain
- 5:15 Break
- 5:25 The Language Lab and Galloping Zebras (Articulatory Awareness)
Day Two (Friday): Linguistic Mouth Foundation, Continued
- 3:45 Review
- 4:00 Break out room to linguistically categorize consonant sounds
- 4:30 Set One Mouth Clones (f/v, th/th, p/b, t/d, k/g, silent gh)
- Galloping Zebras, Snoring Zebras, The Ghost (Articulatory Sequencing) Small Group Work
- 5:25 Break
- 5:35 Noses (m, n,-ng) and Curlers (l, r)
Meditating Zebras, Race Car Zebras (Articulatory Sequencing) Small Group Work
Day Three (Saturday): Finish up Linguistic Foundation
- 8:45 Review
- 9:00 Set Two Mouth Clones (s/z, sh/zh, ch/j)
- Zebra sneeze, Full Zebra story (Articulatory Sequencing and Organizing) Small Group Work
- 9:45 Vowel Facts
- The Superstars (Universal vowels: /ee/,/ o-/, /oo/)
- 10:15 Break
- 10:30 Wannabe’s Semi-Vowels (Consonant y-, w-, wh-, h-)
- 10:50 Make it Match (Core Phonological Awareness activity)
- Small Group Work
- 11:30 Introduction of The Vowel Key (Linguistic mapping of English Vowel sounds) Vowel Key Superstars
- 12:15 Lunch
- 1:00 Vowel Key Midways (/e-/, /a/, /o/)
- Vowel Key Review
- Vowel Key Betweeners (/i-/, /oo/as in book, /aw/, a-/)
Vowel Key Games (Listening practice, Speaking practice, Mouth Cue Lip-Reading practice) - Small Group Work
- 2:00 Vowel Key Gliders (/i/, /u/, /oi/, /ou/)
Day Four (Thursday): Review Linguistics and Introduce Core Phonics Patterns
- 3:45 Review
- 4:15 Make it Match with Vowel Key Group Practice
- 5:00 Break
- 5:10 Letters on the Vowel Key: Beginning the Phonics Stories
- Baby Short Vowels and Consonant Babysitters (Closed Syllables)
- Open Teenagers (Open Syllables)
- Magic E (Silent e: VCe)
- Diva y says /i/ (single y as vowel in base words)
Day Five (Friday): Introduce Wired For Reading Routine Activities and More Core Anglo Saxon Phonics
- 3:45 Review
- 4:00 Practice Activities: Vowel Sound Spell Sort (BORN to Spell) Small Group Work
- 4:30 Wild R, Wild R vs. r Blends, Spelling Lifelines (R controlled)
- 5:00 BREAK
- 5:15 Clarence and the Other Copy Consonants (Introduction of the c expectancy and qu-/-x)
- 6:00 Tippy V and Jobs of Silent e (Role of Silent e in base words)
Day Six (Saturday): Finish Core and Introduce Complex Core Phonics
- 8:45 Review
- 9:00 O-Team (Vowel digraphs Part One)
- Add to BORN spell sort
- 9:45 Decoding practice games: Safe Reading/Hidden Word Tic Tac Toe and other ways to practice online
- 10:15 Break
- 10:30 Gadget and Just So Jay (G expectancy) 10:45 Application: Safe Sentences and Picture-Ade
Small Group Practice - 11:15 Two Vowels Go Walking (Vowel diagraphs Part Two) Small Group Work
- 12:00 Quick take on Leftovers and Waffle Words
(Vowel diagraphs Part Three and other vowel patterns) - 12:15 Lunch
- 1:00 Falls: The Overprotective and Nervous Babysitters (Consonant doubling in Anglo Saxon root)
- Not Cool and Built in Backup Babysitters
- Over Check: More Overprotective and Nervous Babysitters ( –ck/-tch in Anglo Saxon roots)
- Gadget Cannot Multi-Task (-dge pattern)
- 2:10 Overly Helpful Silent e and Solo Diva y (suffix y says /ee/)
Post Course Asynchronous Videos:
The following seven videos provide demonstrations of key lessons not covered in the live class. Participants taking the course for clock hours or credit through Seattle University or those working to become a Certified Wired For Reading Therapist must watch these sample lessons before taking the required end of unit exams.
Lessons
- Booster Babysitters
- Vowels Flip (Flip Strip)
- Vowels 123 (Orthographic Mapping fluency)
Routines and Games
- Supported Reading Routine
- Sketchpad Spelling routine
- Flashback Sentences
- Quick Words and Fluency Packets
- Optional asynchronous videos of Brain Warm Ups
- Myrtle the Mouth Trickster
- Mouth-o-gram





