When I began experimenting with virtual Wilson Reading System lessons, I was a new business owner who had recently earned two new certifications and left the classroom after eighteen years in public schools. My brain was full and I simply didn’t have the time or the capacity to learn a new system. I focused on in-person tutoring and only used virtual sessions in a pinch.
I knew that my peers were using Zoom and the Wilson Digital Lesson Delivery Platform. I’ve been a long-time Google Meet user, and learning to use the platform simply could not be a priority at that time. At first, I felt like I was behind because I wasn’t doing what everyone else was doing. As I continued to expand my online teaching toolbox, I realized that I’m not doing anything wrong. I’ve also realized that my low-tech virtual structured literacy tutoring makes it simple to pivot from virtual to in-person when necessary. This February, when the flu, strep, and the stomach bug were going through either my household or clients’ households, we could switch to virtual with only a few minor inconveniences. Additionally, I kept reading panicked posts in the Wilson Facebook groups from tutors who were wondering what to do when Wilson’s Digital Lesson Delivery Platform went down! With the system I’ve created, I don’t need to rely on the platform.
In the past, I told people that I wasn’t a great resource for tips on teaching the Wilson Reading System online, but my opinion has changed! I’ve become comfortable teaching WRS online through a trial-and-error approach to solve many challenges.
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Note: The advice I offer in this post assumes that you are comfortable teaching WRS lessons in person. We will take your knowledge of delivering effective, in-person WRS lessons and transfer it to the virtual setting. This post does not discuss how to teach Wilson, but how to teach it online.
Essential Items for You in a Virtual Wilson Reading System Lesson
Technology:
- A reliable internet connection
- A reliable computer
- A document camera
WRS Materials:
- Your program materials, including a magnetic journal with letter tiles for you (in addition to one for your student)
- A PDF version of the Student Notebook answer key (available in Wilson Academy)
Other Basic Materials:
- Plastic sheet protector & binder clips
- A personal whiteboard, fine tip and broad tip dry-erase markers, and an eraser
- A binder for your lesson plans and student tracking sheets
- Containers for each student’s word cards
Wishlist Items for Virtual Wilson Teachers
- An extra blank copy of the Student Notebook
- Extra copies of all the word cards (phonetically regular cards, high frequency word cards)
- A Google Slides deck or PowerPoint presentation: I sometimes prefer to type in the slides instead of writing on a whiteboard for my student.
Essential Items Provided by the Family for Virtual Wilson Reading System Lessons
- A stable internet connection
- A reliable computer, preferably a laptop
- A personal-sized whiteboard with markers and an eraser
- Sharpened pencils and erasers
- The ability to print materials (additional dictation pages, word list charts, etc.), when necessary
Essential Materials You Will Send to Your Virtual Wilson Student
- A complete Wilson student binder, assembled as indicated by your training
- A magnetic journal with letter tiles. I like to set up the journal with the letter tiles required for Substep 1.3. Letter tiles for future Substeps can be sent in a separate part of the package or mailed in the future. I do this so that the magnetic journal remains simple and uncluttered for my new student.
Wishlist Materials for Virtual Wilson Students
- A document camera: Your student can switch to their own document camera when they write or use their magnetic journals.
- Their own copy of the Student Readers: Photocopying the Student Readers is prohibited by copyright laws. Some virtual tutors request that parents purchase the Student Readers from the Wilson website. If this is not feasible, don’t worry! Students can view your Student Reader through your document camera.
Logistical Skills to Teach in the First Virtual Wilson Reading System Lessons
- Where to save the meeting link (e.g. in the bookmarks bar of Google Chrome)
- How to log back into the meeting if they lose their connection or accidentally leave
- How to tilt their laptop screen to show their work
- How to find and click on a link in the chat
- How to type in your shared slides, if you plan to use them
If you’ve never tried it before, having your student tilt their laptop screen to show their work is a total game-changer. Your student should sit in front of the laptop with their work (dictation page, magnetic journal, etc.) directly in front of the keyboard. Make sure they understand that tilting the screen too far will cause them to leave the meeting and may put their computer into Sleep Mode. Ask the student to tilt the screen a little at a time until you can see their work. Once you find the right position, the student can leave their screen at that angle until you move on to the next part of the lesson.
Teaching Block 1 of Virtual Wilson Reading System Lessons
Parts 1 and 2 (Sounds Quick Drill, Teach & Review Concepts for Reading):
Materials for You:
- Document camera
- Your magnetic journal
Turn on your document camera and position your magnetic journal below it. Complete Parts 1 and 2 as you would in person: Point to the letter tiles for Part 1. Build words with the letter tiles for Part 2.
Need to make a notebook entry? You have two choices: Share the PDF answer key of the Student Notebook on the screen, or use your document camera and your blank copy of the Student Notebook. A downside to using the PDF answer key is that all notebook entries will appear on the screen, which may make it difficult for your student to understand which part of the page they should focus on.
If you have a blank copy of the Student Notebook, clip a plastic sheet protector onto the page your student will complete. Guide your student through the notebook entry: they watch you write with a fine tip whiteboard marker on the sheet protector, and they fill in the same section in their notebook in pencil. This is my preferred method for guiding students through a notebook entry.
If you want to watch your student make the notebook entry, you will ask them to tilt their laptop screen. Not sure what this means? Make sure you read Logistical Skills to Teach in the First Virtual Wilson Reading System Lessons at the beginning of this post.
Do you need to build multisyllabic words? Slide Wilson’s syllable cards under your document camera, or make your own. I crafted my own by laminating white and yellow index cards. I can write word elements and syllables on them to make words, erase them, and use them again.
Part 3 (Word Cards):
Materials for You:
- Document camera
- Word cards (phonetically regular words and high frequency words). I keep the cards for each student in individual containers.
Complete Part 3 as you would in person, but with the cards under your document camera. With the phonetically regular word cards, you can flash the fat stack while your student reads them quickly. You can introduce and discuss new word cards with the document camera, too. You can also play some quick games, like “Which One Doesn’t Belong?” Here’s how it works:
- Place three word cards under the document camera and ask, “Which one doesn’t belong?”
- The student studies the words to look for similarities and differences. Perhaps two of the words have suffixes, but one does not.
- Guide your student to offer responses like, “Mixes doesn’t belong because it has a suffix, but fall and mesh do not.”
- Sometimes there is more than one correct response. The important factor is that your conversation encourages word study and reviews the concepts your students have been learning.
Need more phonetically regular word cards? There is a template in Wilson Academy. Simply add your own words and print. You can also watch eBay to purchase additional sets.
Need to add a vocabulary word? The first few times my students add a word to their binder, I model the process with my document camera so they understand how to navigate the vocabulary page. I slide a blank vocabulary page into a plastic sheet protector and fill it out with a fine-tip dry-erase marker alongside the student. Once they are confident using the vocabulary pages, I use my students’ individual Google Slides decks to introduce a new word and display the definition.
Working with high frequency words? Teach as you would in person, but with the cards under your document camera. I like to have a set of word cards for each individual student so that I can mark or color-code them, as needed. The cards are available for purchase on the Wilson website, but I print my own on cardstock. You could also make them the old-fashioned way, with a Sharpie and index cards.
Need to add a high frequency word to the Student Notebook? If necessary, you can share the PDF answer key on the screen or put your blank Student Notebook under the document camera. Once my students know how to enter a high frequency word in their Student Notebook, they don’t typically need support adding new words.
Part 4 (Wordlist Reading):
Materials for You:
- Document camera
- Student Reader
Implementing Part 4 of virtual Wilson Reading System lessons is very simple. Place the Student Reader under your document camera and teach this part the same way you would teach it in person. (Are you sensing a pattern here?)
Completing the student chart can be a bit tricky, though. Some students can easily follow directions to fill out the top of the chart (date, substep, real or nonsense words). Other students struggle to complete the task. If your student has trouble filling out their chart independently, you can consider creating one in Google Slides. When I’m working with a virtual-only student, I prefer to have a chart in their Google Slides deck anyway. Before I began using digital charts, I had no way to look back at my virtual students’ data when planning their next lessons.
Part 5 (Sentence Reading):
Materials for You:
- Document camera
- Student Reader
- Plastic sheet protector
- Binder clip
- Dry-erase marker & eraser
Optional Materials for Your Student:
- Their own copy of the Student Reader
- A pencil
- A document camera
The simplest way to teach Part 5 is to place the Student Reader under your document camera and teach this part the same way you would teach it in person. One downside: you can ask students to locate things to mark, but you have to do the marking.
Here’s what marking looks like in Part 5 of my virtual Wilson Reading System lessons: I clip a plastic sheet protector onto the page my student will read. We follow the routines. When it’s time to mark, I offer prompts like, “Find a digraph in sentence four. How do we mark digraphs?” Then, I use my dry-erase marker to mark the digraph. Once my students know the basics of marking and scooping, I prompt them to “be the teacher.” They choose a sentence and tell me what to mark.
If you want to make Sentence Reading more interactive, you can consider having the family purchase their own copy of the Student Readers. I personally have not done this, and it may require a document camera for the student. The benefit is that you can watch while they mark and scoop, instead of having the student tell you what to mark. I believe that using Zoom would solve this problem for me, but that’s another task for another day!
Teaching Block 2 of Virtual Wilson Reading System Lessons
During Block 2 of a virtual Wilson Reading System lesson, it’s essential that you have a clear view of your student’s work. This is accomplished by tilting their laptop screen. If you skipped over it, make sure you read Logistical Skills to Teach in the First Virtual Wilson Reading System Lessons at the beginning of this post. Some virtual tutors have their students use their own document camera, and that is another effective option.
Parts 6 and 7 (Quick Drill in Reverse, Teach & Review Concepts for Spelling):
Materials for Your Student:
- Magnetic journal
- Whiteboard, marker, and eraser
- Optional: document camera
Your student places their magnetic journal in front of their computer. They tilt the screen until you can see their letter tiles. Then, teach Parts 6 and 7 as you would in person. Some sounds, like /f/, /v/, and /th/, are tricky to hear in a virtual session. When I dictate these sounds, I prompt my students to look at me. If necessary, we discuss the articulatory gesture (e.g. tongue between the teeth) to ensure the student hears me correctly.
Need to make a notebook entry? As previously discussed, you have two choices: Share the PDF answer key of the Student Notebook on the screen, or use your document camera and your blank copy of the Student Notebook.
Does your student need to spell multisyllabic words? Slide blank syllable cards under your document camera, or make a representation of the blank cards in their Google Slides deck and share your screen. Guide students through the established procedure for spelling multisyllabic words. They will look at your syllable cards as a guide, but build the word either on their magnetic journal or on their whiteboard.
Time to practice spelling high frequency words? Keep it simple: the student writes the word on their whiteboard. Discuss the letter/sound connections, what makes the word tricky to spell, and any strategy you’ve offered your student to remember the spelling of the word(s). Need ideas on how to teach the irregular high-frequency words? Gain some new strategies here.
Part 8 (Written Work Dictation):
Materials for Your Student:
- Dictation page
- Pencil and eraser
- Optional: document camera
Teaching Part 8 of a Wilson lesson online is pretty straightforward. Your student positions a dictation page in front of their computer with their screen tilted. This allows you to watch them write. In the first few lessons, you may choose to put a dictation page in a sheet protector under your document camera to help your student navigate the page. Similar to Part 7, you may sometimes need to prompt the student to look at you when you pronounce a word.
Teaching Block 3 of the Wilson Reading System online will be addressed in a future post.
Why Writing by Hand is So Important in Virtual Structured Literacy Tutoring
You may have noticed that I don’t utilize some tech options that might make the lesson “easier”: I could have my students type in the chat, type in our Google Slides deck, or scoop, mark, and write on a virtual whiteboard. Typing would certainly be faster, but my students would miss out on valuable skills.
Not only does writing by hand offer them the opportunity to practice handwriting and build their writing fluency, but it also reinforces their learning of literacy concepts (Marano et al., 2025). More and more research is coming out that tells us that writing by hand is superior to typing in numerous ways:
- Handwriting engages and improves fine motor skills.
- Handwriting activates “a broader network of brain regions” than typing, which means that the writer is more actively engaged in the task.
- Handwriting engages the memory and language areas of the brain.
- Handwriting provides more tactile/proprioceptive feedback, which increases engagement in the task.
- Handwriting triggers the “encoding effect,” which means that “the effort of forming letters improves retention and comprehension” of the skills or concepts.
If your students are resistant to handwriting and want to type instead, you can assure them of this: learning scientists have studied writing versus typing, and there is strong evidence that writing by hand helps us learn faster. I do occasionally allow my students to type, but the bulk of my instruction requires them to write by hand on paper or a whiteboard.
What questions do you have about teaching with the Wilson Reading System online?
There were so many more tips I wanted to include, but I didn’t want this post to become long and overwhelming! If you have a specific question about virtual structured literacy tutoring, reach out and I’ll do my best to support you.
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Here are some other Wilson-related and tutoring-related blogs you may be interested in:
- The Reading Tutor Resource Hub: All my advice about private tutoring in one place
- Routine Without the Rut: How to keep Wilson lessons engaging without veering from the program
- Affordable Ways to Renew Your Wilson Certification
- Wilson Reading Groups: Strategies for Success
Marano, G., Kotzalidis, G. D., Lisci, F. M., Anesini, M. B., Rossi, S., Barbonetti, S., Cangini, A., Ronsisvalle, A., Artuso, L., Falsini, C., Caso, R., Mandracchia, G., Brisi, C., Traversi, G., Mazza, O., Pola, R., Sani, G., Mercuri, E. M., Gaetani, E., & Mazza, M. (2025). The neuroscience behind writing: Handwriting vs. typing—who wins the battle? Life, 15(3), 345. https://doi.org/10.3390/life15030345
