Are you ready to get into the holiday spirit AND support an awesome literacy nonprofit right here in Asheville? Well then head on down to Barnes & Noble in Biltmore Town Square the weekend after Thanksgiving for the Read to Succeed Holiday Book Fair!

Where: Barnes & Noble in South Asheville (33 Town Square Blvd, Ste 100, Asheville, NC.)
When: Sat., November 28th - Sun., November 29th, 2020
What to expect: Barnes & Noble staff will be handing out COVID-safe snacks from the cafe as well as bookmarks and crafts for kids to take home.

The best part? Proceeds from every purchase that weekend will go to Read to Succeed Asheville/Buncombe. Plus, everyone who visits has a chance to win this awesome holiday bundle featured below.

To ensure your Barnes & Noble purchase benefits R2S, make sure you present the bookmark below when checking out. You can click the PDF below to open and print it, or they will be handing out bookmarks at the entrance to Barnes & Noble on the days of the Book Fair (Nov. 28th and 29th).

Would you rather shop online! No problem! Visit BarnesandNoble.com online and make sure to check the box that asks you if yours is a book fair order on the payment page. When prompted, enter the R2S Bookfair ID: 12602066. Learn more here

RSVP for the R2S Book Fair on facebook here and you will get a reminder when it is happening! This family-friendly event is TOTALLY free to attend and Barnes & Noble is taking all precautions to keep everyone who participates safe and comfortable.

Our deepest gratitude goes out to Barnes & Noble who has already collected over 400 children's books for R2S as part of their larger Holiday Book Drive that runs through Dec. 12th, 2020. Your dedication to children in our community and literacy achievement is energizing, and we are so thankful for your partnership!

Did you know November is National Family Literacy Month? What an excellent time to celebrate reading together as a family!

From birth to adulthood, research shows that reading aloud with kids builds strong literacy skills. Learning to read is the most important skill a child can learn since all future learning depends on reading ability. All future academic success, professional achievement, emotional and behavioral development, civic engagement, financial well-being, and overall health depend in part on a person’s literacy skills.

When young children learn to read at grade-level, they also feel more confident, capable, and enthusiastic about learning. Don’t miss these ten fun ideas for celebrating National Family Literacy Month in November (and all year!):

1. Turn family time into reading time. There are thousands of ways to incorporate reading into family time. Sneak reading and literacy activities into cooking, car rides, chore charts, and family game nights. Check out some of our favorite ideas in our blog post, 15 Ways to Weave Reading Into Family Time.
2. Support local literacy organizations. In Western North Carolina, a handful of nonprofits are dedicated solely to supporting literacy achievement for children and adults in our local community. Check out Read to Succeed (R2S), Colorful Pages Coalition, the Pop Project, and the Literacy Council of Buncombe County to learn more. Support your local literacy organizations by sharing these links on social media or donating your time, books, or money.
3. Donate books. You can currently donate multicultural and inclusive books to Read2Succeed at the Holiday Book Drive at Barnes & Noble in Biltmore Town Square. You can also donate books directly to local literacy organizations and other nonprofits such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, and the Habitat Restore.
4. Start your own Little Free Library. Perhaps your family has a bookshelf filled with books nobody has read in years: declutter your home by gifting these to a Little Free Library instead. Little Free Libraries are miniature libraries in your neighborhood or community in which everyone is invited to borrow or leave books. You can create your own Little Free Library and register it online, or purchase a library kit from Little Free Library.
5. Support your local library. Your family can support your local Buncombe County library simply by getting involved. Register for a library card, check out books & audiobooks, and encourage those in your community to take advantage of the multitude of free resources available from a library near you. Of course, you can also volunteer your time, money, and books.
6. Transform screen time into reading time. Have your children watch the many wonderful PBS shows that highlight core literacy skills: Reading Rainbow, Between The Lions, Word Girl, and Martha Speaks, amongst others. Research suggests that turning on captions while watching TV shows or movies can also reinforce strong literacy skills in children. Check out literacy-based educational apps like Duo ABC and Youtube read-aloud channels like Sankofa Reads.
7. Start a virtual book club with friends, family, and neighbors. Your children can read their favorite books out loud to relatives, who can ask them comprehension-based literacy questions afterward. They can also act out storybook scenarios with other children or classmates, even over Zoom or Skype. Children love make-believe; creating imaginary scenarios helps foster creativity and abstract thinking in childhood.
8. Volunteer to read. Celebrate National Family Literacy Month by volunteering as a reading tutor with Read to Succeed Asheville/Buncombe. Don’t have the time to volunteer? Spread the word - ask high schoolers and college-aged family or neighbors in your community to become volunteer readers, since many young people need volunteer hours for their school or club.
9. Read to senior citizens. Even though retirement and assisted-living communities are under various stages of lockdown due to COVID-19, your family can still bring joy to seniors during this difficult time. Call your local retirement communities and ask to read virtually to seniors, over Skype or Zoom. Encourage your child to read their favorite stories and explain their favorite aspects of them -- this will enhance their understanding and ability to explain concepts to others.
10. Thanksgiving Café. Have your children write out, label, and decorate a menu listing the main ingredients for all the food options that will be served at Thanksgiving. Your children may harness their imagination in setting up a Thanksgiving Café in which they play make-believe by seating guests, offering food, and reading menus out-loud. They can also have fun “labeling” guests by correctly spelling each guest’s name inside of a “Hi! My Name Is:_______” name-tag sticker

Reading is a critical component of children’s academic - and future life - success. Studies show that kids learn to read and comprehend stories in a multitude of ways, both inside and outside of the classroom. Kids are inherently inquisitive about the world around them so, naturally, they embrace learning new things.
 
Below are 15 fun, creative ideas that organically weave reading, comprehension, and vocabulary into family time activities! They are great for all kids, including those who love reading and those who aren't yet fond of it.

In addition to involving you in your child’s education in a fun and effective way, these family time activities may also foster a deeper relationship with your child, creating lasting memories for years to come.

1. Book Battles. Have everyone in the family make age-appropriate reading goals for the month (i.e., Preschoolers will have a much simpler goal than elementary kids). This includes parents, guardians, aunts, uncles, grandparents, you name it! Each person who finishes a book chapter or article gets one point and whoever has the most points at the end of the month is the winner.
   
   
2. Squeeze in reading. Even families with busy schedules can make time for teaching reading skills by playing read-out-loud videos. These videos help develop a better understanding of language by reading out loud to your kids, even when you yourself don’t have the time to do so. Read-out-loud videos can be played on a phone or tablet for your child while you’re driving, cooking, or running errands. We are big fans of the Sankofa Read Aloud channel on Youtube.
   
   
3. Vocabulary Jar. Each time your child learns a new vocabulary word that they love, ask them to write it down and put it in a word jar. Once the jar is filled up completely, reward them with new books or other goodies. This can also be made into a contest against friends or siblings: whoever fills up the word jar first wins.
   
   
4. Cook together. Ask your child to help you make a grocery list to buy ingredients for some of their favorite meals. Have him or her read the grocery list out loud while you’re grocery shopping together. While you’re cooking, ask your child to help by reading the recipe and instructions out loud to you.
   
   
5. Bake together. Make fun vocabulary-themed cookies with your child using alphabet-shaped cookie cutters. Don’t have alphabet cookie cutters? Make sugar cookies and ask your child to write letters or words on them using frosting.
   
   
6. Play board games. Play games together that involve reading like Pokemon, Monopoly, Scrabble, Exploding Kittens, Boggle, Apples to Apples, you name it! Family game night also helps kids develop fluid intelligence and problem-solving skills.
   
   
7. Play virtual games. There is a multitude of  free educational games and apps designed to teach kids reading skills. One of these is Teach Your Monster to Read, where kids design a pet monster that they teach to read using phonics and whole language learning. We also love Duo ABC by the makers of the language learning app, Duolingo.
   
   
8. Go on scavenger hunts. Create a scavenger hunt around your house or neighborhood and hide clues that your child has to read to you. Together you’ll use your child’s critical thinking and reading skills to successfully solve the scavenger hunt clues and find the treasure!
   
   
9. Create science experiments. Kids are natural scientists who are interested in how the world works around them. Print out the instructions for setting up a simple science experiment and have your child read the instructions out loud to you. They will enjoy “teaching” you how to set up the science experiment. You can find an entire at-home science experiment library at Steve Spangler Science, click here.
   
   
10. Coloring & draw together. Sit down one evening to create art projects with your child. Break out the crayons to draw and color some of your child’s favorite words and names together. Alternatively, download free word-based coloring pages - there are thousands of options online; all you have to do is Google them!
    
    
11. Enjoy a karaoke night. Stream free lyric videos on Youtube and take turns belting out your favorite kids’ songs with your child. This is a great activity for at home and short car rides, but for longer car rides, see activity #14.
    
    
12. Play story charades. Swap turns with your child acting out scenes from their favorite books. Take turns guessing which scene and character(s) are being depicted. If you’re not familiar with the books, have your child summarize the plot and characters or read important segments out loud to you.
    
    
13. Read on video calls. Do you Chat with family & friends over Zoom, Facetime, or Skype? Encourage your child to read a book on the video call to the folks on the other end.
    
    
14. Educational road trips. Is your family traveling together? Encourage your child to practice reading by playing the license plate game on road trips. Alternatively, ask them to help you read the map or spell out the letters of street, building, and city names they see on the GPS.
    
    
15. Chore charts. Instead of asking your child to do their chores, make a chore chart that they must read in order to determine what to do for that day. Older siblings can help the younger ones use phonics to sound out tasks on the chart. Kids who read & finish all of their daily chores can win fun prizes or other rewards.
    

Here at R2S, we are all about reading, so we thought we would ask our new Executive Director some fun reading-specific questions to learn a little bit more about her.

What is your favorite children’s book?
My favorite children’s book that I read to my son, especially around Halloween, was “My Monster Mama Loves Me So”. Beyond the many books my son got throughout the year, every Christmas, I would get him a special one that I would inscribe, and we would read on Christmas Day. My favorite one is “The Gift of Nothing." It totally sums up our relationship and how we view gifts/giving. You should definitely read it.

Where is your favorite place to read?
I love reading before I go to bed. It’s a time to unwind and escape the day-to-day. I often fall asleep with my glasses on and a book on my chest.

What’s the last thing you read, book or otherwise?
I’ve just picked up (again) “The Historian” by Elizabeth Kostova. I love how she weaves time and space so fluidly and how the pieces all come together in the end. Her words are so descriptive that you can feel, see, taste every moment and place.

If you could have one author, dead or alive, over for dinner, who would it be? Why?
Madeleine L'Engle. I loved the Wrinkle in Time series and still have all the books, which I often reread as an adult. As a young girl, it was the first book I read that incorporated modern science and a strong, smart female character. It inspired me to imagine a world beyond my reality and piqued my interest in science. An interest that led me to two post-graduate degrees that incorporated both education and science.

Who inspired your love of reading?
My mom, most definitely. Her mom, my grandma Jewell, was a librarian, and books were readily available to her growing up. Ever since I can remember, we would read together every day. And while we didn’t have much growing up, we always had books. After all these years and over 15 moves back and forth across the country, I still have many of my childhood books….including “Drummer Hoff” and “The Giving Tree."

What’s your favorite book-to-movie adaptation?
It’s a toss-up. I’ve loved the adaptations of Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax” and “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”. I’ve watched those cartoon specials since I was young. More recently, I’d say the Harry Potter series. I love the books (have the full set in hardback) and have enjoyed the movies as well.

When is the last time you read to someone else?
My mother has late-stage Parkinson’s and is unable to read or really do much of anything for herself. I, and others, now read her the books she’s enjoyed since she was young. Mostly children’s books that she and I have collected over the years.

If you wrote an autobiography, what would it be titled?
"What’s Your Excuse?. . .What’s Your Inspiration?" I am thankful for my journey and all the people who have been and/or are a part of it. I’ve had many wonderful, magical experiences and, at the same time, some horrible ones as well. Storytelling has always been important to me, personally and professionally. I hope to share my story one day to bring humor, hope, and inspiration to others.

What is your favorite genre to read?
I enjoy children’s books and have a wonderful collection. I lean toward Mystery and Fiction, however, it usually depends on my mood or interest at the time.

What is one of your fondest memories of growing up in WNC?
Hiking and camping in the mountains. My love of nature and the outdoors was ignited in the Blue Ridge Mountains. My parents were hippies, and we would spend countless hours, days, and weeks exploring the creeks, mountains, and trails in this area.

Read more about the new Executive Director announcement in our press release - click here.

Exposure to new words at a very young age plays one of the MOST important roles in developing a robust and wide vocabulary and building strong language and literacy skills.

Research shows that while word attack skills and letter–word identification at the beginning of first grade are strong predictors of reading comprehension at the end of first grade, vocabulary was the best predictor of reading comprehension at the end of 2nd and 3rd grades.

Knowledge of many different words contributes to:

• Improved listening and communications skills
• Stronger reading, language, and comprehension skills
• Critical thinking and ability to process information
• Academic success
  
  

A wide vocabulary also equips a student with the words they need to express themselves in both written and spoke formats, which does wonders for personal growth, self-esteem, and relationship-building.

Does your child's face fill with dread when you mention practicing "vocabulary?" You're not alone. Learning new words can feel overwhelming for young kids sometimes, but "vocabulary practice" doesn't always need to be monotonous flashcards and daunting worksheets. Enter . . . the vocabulary jar!

A dedicated vocabulary jar that lives in your home encourages children to regularly learn and practice new words along with their definitions.

Materials needed:

•  A jar or something to put the words in
•  Markers or colored pencils
•  Index cards or paper

Instructions:
1. Pick out words your child needs to learn - remember to use high-frequency words as well as fun, wild words.
2. Cut up paper big enough on which to fit the words (one word per piece of paper).
3. Have your child write out the word and its definition and decorate the paper (repeat this step with each word).
4. Fold up each paper so they can fit in the jar and place the jar in an easy to access place in the house.
5. Start a new tradition with your child where they pick a word out of the jar and practice it with you! Maybe it's every morning when they wake up, every night when they go to bed, or every time you head out to the car.

Tips for practicing vocabulary words:

• Describe the meaning of the word in a kid-friendly way. Discuss its definition and sound it out together. (Look it up in dictionary together!)
  
• Use the word in a sentence. Use the word in a sentence and ask your child to do the same. (Even have them write a sentence using the vocabulary word.)
  
• Practice word association. Ask your child what word pops into their head when they hear this new word.
  
• Draw it. Ask your child to draw a picture or symbol that represents the word to them.
  
• If your child has a problem with a word, help them sound it by breaking the word into syllables or word families.
  
  

After you practice a word from the jar together, return it to the jar and only remove it for good once your child has learned and remembered it.

Don't let the fun stop with the jar! Once your child has learned a new word, make it an active part of every day - use the word in regular conversation with them, play the word in a game like Scrabble or Boggle, you name it!

Sources:

• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248940899_The_Importance_of_Early_Vocabulary_for_Literacy_Achievement_in_High-Poverty_Schools
• https://www.readingrockets.org/research/topic/vocabulary

Fall is just around the corner, and we are excited to officially invite you to Read to Succeed's annual fall fundraiser! We are throwin' it back this year with an old-school drive-in event at the Asheville Outlets on Tuesday, October 13, 2020, from 7 p.m.-8 p.m.

Our drive-in fundraising dinner will feature a gourmet catered box dinner from Celine & Co., free giveaways, and a big-screen presentation about Read to Succeed (which you can tune into from your car's radio station) - all in a socially-distanced, safe environment.

Click the button below to learn more about the fundraising event and sign up to reserve a parking spot.

At the event, you will learn more about how R2S is working to close the literacy achievement gap in Asheville and Buncombe County. We will also be sharing how we have adapted our one-to-one reading tutoring program to a virtual format to continue tutoring and supporting K-3rd grade students in achieving grade-level reading proficiency.

Your commitment to our local students is needed more than ever. All attendees will be given the opportunity at the event to make a donation to R2S via cash, check, or mobile transaction. Our goal is to raise $50K, and we know that with your support, we can make this happen.

Please spread the word by sharing this blog post or click here to download a flyer you can print/share. We look forward to seeing you at the drive-in!

When social justice champion, Isaac Coleman, and a group of community activists started Read to Succeed Asheville/Buncombe (R2S) in 2009, their goal was to close the stark literacy achievement gap between Black and white students in Asheville City Schools. Over ten years later, R2S continues the work of supporting local K-3rd grade students in both Asheville City and Buncombe County Schools in achieving grade-level reading proficiency.

In July 2020, a significant $84,000 3-year grant named for Coleman, who passed away in 2016, was awarded to R2S to power new community partnerships dedicated to equitable opportunities for literacy in Asheville. The award, part of the larger Isaac Coleman Economic Community Investment plan managed by Buncombe County, was one of 5 issued for the fiscal year 2021, totaling $500,000.

“The racial achievement gaps in our local schools are some of the highest in the nation and Read to Succeed is committed to addressing this inequity,” said Ann Flynn, Executive Director of R2S. “We know literacy is a cornerstone of opportunity. We are using this strategic grant to collaborate and partner with equity-driven community organizations to further the work Isaac Coleman and others started over a decade ago.”

One of those partnerships will be with Youthful HAND, an afterschool and academic summer program for PreK-5th graders located at the Hillcrest Community Center and directed by Elinor Earle. In addition to supporting Youthful HAND by supplying digital devices students can use as part of their remote learning, the grant also enables R2S to provide academic programming and literacy support to students and their families in the Hillcrest, Pisgah View, and Deaverview communities.

“The laptops, tutors, literacy materials, and other resources the Isaac Coleman grant provides will go a long way towards equipping students with the tools they need for virtual learning,” said Earle. “And in partnership with Read to Succeed, I know we can bring our young students who are not yet reading at grade-level up to where they need to be to succeed in school.”

Buncombe County Director of Strategic Partnerships, Rachael Nygaard, shared, “The Isaac Coleman Economic Community Investment Grant calls for targeted investments toward eliminating racial disparities and championing equitable opportunity. The review team was impressed with Read to Succeed’s equitable and community-driven approach to increasing literacy, and the Board of Commissioners was pleased to award the grant.”

Read more about Isaac Coleman:

A Lifelong Activist: Isaac Coleman - The Urban News
Visiting Our Past: An Interview with Isaac Coleman - Asheville Citizen-Times

Are you passionate about social justice and closing the achievement gap between Black and white students in Asheville and Buncombe County? R2S is looking for an experienced nonprofit leader to serve as the next Executive Director.

To learn more about the job and how to apply, click here > https://indeedhi.re/33Bl5JF

Background
Read to Succeed Asheville/Buncombe is dedicated to closing the literacy achievement gap between Black and white students in Asheville City and Buncombe County schools through one-to-one literacy tutoring. We train volunteers in the highly-regarded Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction. A flexible, language-based modality of teaching students to read, Orton-Gillingham engages multiple senses–visual, auditory and kinesthetic–to enhance memory storage and retrieval of sounds, syllables, and words.

After training, volunteers are matched with a K-3rd grade student in one of Read to Succeed’s partner schools in the Asheville City and Buncombe County Schools systems. For 1 to 2 hours a week, volunteer reading tutors lead hands-on tutoring sessions with their students in reading, spelling, vocabulary, and writing.

Read to Succeed also organizes literacy programming and events in collaboration with community partners throughout the year.

Full-Time Executive Director (Hiring Summer/Fall of 2020)
The Board of Directors of Read to Succeed Asheville/Buncombe (R2S) is seeking a leader to serve as the next Executive Director (ED). The ideal candidate is an experienced nonprofit leader with at least three years of proven successful nonprofit management. The ED will provide leadership to the organization, manage its day-to-day affairs, and is responsible for directing and formulating plans for achieving the organization’s mission and annual goals, including fundraising from diverse sources; budgeting and fiscal management; operations and human resource management; marketing and communications; and strategic planning. The ED will make it a priority to preserve and build upon the collaborative spirit that exists internally with the board and staff, and externally with the broader nonprofit community, government officials, and other key stakeholders. R2S embraces diversity and equal opportunity.

Qualifications
REQUIRED: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college.

• Commitment to Read to Succeed’s vision and mission.
  
• Record of successful and innovative fundraising with proven experience with individual donors, grant writing, and major gifts.
• Proven track record of visionary leadership with at least three years of senior management experience – including administration, staff supervision, strategic planning, evaluation, budgeting, and organizational innovation.
  
• Extraordinary communicator and relationship builder with a wide variety of stakeholders.
• Demonstrated cross-cultural competency with the ability to prioritize and implement diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to manage organizational operations effectively and efficiently.
• Exceptional financial skills – including budgeting, fiscal management, and analysis.

Apply
For more details about the position and to apply, visit this link on Indeed: https://indeedhi.re/33Bl5JF

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.