Are you looking for a unique and super fun way to engage your community or family in reading? Look no further than StoryLane!

The brain child of a friendly neighborhood book club, StoryLane features one entire children's book spread out page by page across 16 different houses. The pages of the story book are laminated and posted on signs in the front yards of participating houses. Each board with pages from the story on it also has a small sign displayed indicating at which house the next page(s) of the story can be found.

In addition to the enjoyment of reading a new story and the thrill of discovering where the next page of the book is, StoryLane also offers families an activity-rich handout to take home when they are done reading! Handouts are filled with comprehension questions, research ideas, literacy activities, and sometimes, even recipes. They make for hours of fun after the reading is done and support important literacy skills for elementary-age children.

 Part story time, part scavenger hunt, StoryLane is a safe, family-friendly, literacy-promoting activity for children and their parents. Families can currently enjoy StoryLane on Montview Dr. (off Coleman Ave. off Merrimon Ave.) Start at house #5 and follow the directions at each sign. While on Coleman Ave., watch for another story walk which has sprung up in numerous yards. Note: Street parking is limited and stories are changed out every 3 weeks. Please watch for traffic.

Next up for StoryLane: Jan Brett's, Town Mouse Country Mouse, up August 7th, 2020.

If you are looking to create a StoryLane in your neighborhood, talk to your neighbors and see who can join you! Then, select a children's book you all would like to post and plan it out:

• Are there copyright issues you need to check for the use of the book in this way?
• How many pages are there and how many houses are participating? (It's totally fine to have more than one or two pages per yard - just spread them out among several signs).
• Do you have a way to make legible copies of the pages of the book and laminate them?
• How will you buy/build your signs? (You can find yard sign holders from many online retailers; or consider building your own signs or simply finding a way to attach signs to existing posts or fences in the yard.)

Make a day of it! Once you have all your supplies assembled, work with your neighbors to put the signs together, verify the pages are in order, and make mini-signs that tell readers where to go next. Laminating everything ensures that signs don't get ruined by bad weather. Pro tip: Use Washi tape (colorful duct tape) to decorate boards/signs so they are vibrant yet waterproof.

Then, post signs in yards and spread the word!

StoryLane not only cultivates a love and enjoyment of reading for children young and old, but it provides the perfect family activity to do together during periods of quarantine and social distancing.

If you create a StoryLane in your neighborhood, let us know! Leave a comment below and we can feature your Story Lane on the blog.

Did you know that sight words only make up 4% of all words in the English language? Even so, it is critical that young students learn to recognize sight words just by looking at them because these words typically cannot be decoded or sounded out (and they show up frequently in reading). Examples of sight words include, "said," "also," "circle," and "were."

Research shows that using multisensory techniques to teach sight words helps students learn and remember them better than simple recitation. Multisensory techniques involve a child using their eyes (visual), ears (auditory), and touch (kinesthetic) to practice sight words.

Check out these 5 fun multi-sensory sight word activities for young children:

1. Rainbow Writing

Supplies needed:

• Colored markers or colored pencils
• Index card
• Black marker

Steps:

1. Write the sight word down in black marker on the unlined side of an index card in all lowercase letters.
2. Give your child one colored marker and ask them to say the word,  trace the letters of the word saying each letter out loud, and then say the word again.  For example: "was, w - a - s, was."
3. Repeat the step above two more times with different colored markers/pencils.

2. Foam Letters

Supplies needed:

• 1 to 2 sets of lowercase foam letters
• Index card
• Black marker

Steps:

1. Write the sight word down in black marker on the unlined side of an index card in all lowercase letters and place in front of your child.
2. Hand your child the foam letters that make up the word.
3. Ask them to put the letters in the correct order to form the word on the index card.
4. Have them say the word out loud, then say each letter as they press down on the foam letters with their fingers, and then say the word one more time.
5. Practice doing this three times with each sight word.

3. Play-Doh Letters

Supplies needed:

• Play-Doh or modeling clay
• Index card
• Black marker

Steps:

1. Write the sight word down in black marker on the unlined side of an index card in all lowercase letters and place in front of your child.
   
2. Count the letters of the word with your child and break the Play-Doh into the same number of pieces
3. Roll each clump of Play-Doh into a small ball with your child and help them roll each one into a long, skinny worm
4. Ask your child to form each letter of the sight word in order with the little Play-Doh worms
5. When the word is fully spelled out with Play-Doh letters, have your child say the word, then say each letter of the word as they press down on its corresponding Play-Doh letter, and then say the word one last time.
6. Practice this three separate times for each sight word.

4. Letter Matching

Supplies needed:

• Popsicle sticks
• Wooden clothes pins
• Index card
• Black marker

Steps:

1. Write the sight word down in black marker on the flat side of a popsicle stick.
   
2. Write the letters of the sight word in black marker on the lower half of a wooden clothespin - one letter per clothespin.
   
3. Ask your child to say the sight word out loud and pinch and place each clothespin onto its corresponding letter on the popsicle stick while saying the letters out loud. Then, say the word one more time out loud.
4. Have your child repeat this process three times (they can also do it while removing the clothespins from the popsicle stick).

5. Letter Slide

Supplies needed:

• Pipe cleaners
  
• Letter beads
• Index card
• Black marker

Steps:

1. Write the sight word down in black marker on the unlined side of an index card in all lowercase letters and place in front of your child.
2. Give your child the letter beads that correspond to the sight word
3. Ask your child to say the sight word out loud and slide each letter onto the pipe cleaner in order to spell the word, saying each letter as they go. Then have them say the word again out loud.
4. Practice doing this three times for each sight word.