MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Nine-year-old Kelly Wallace is a rising fourth grader and has been making significant progress with her sight words with the help of her coach Julia Howell, a volunteer with Arise2Read.
Arise2Read is an organization that focuses on literacy. They tutor students weekly, building a strong foundation when it comes to sight word fluency. Many of the students they work with read below their grade level. That is why they target second graders.
“Kindergarten through second grade are the years they’re learning to read. When they go into third grade, then the expectation is that they’ll be ready to read to learn,” said former teacher and the leader of Arise2Read Karen Vogelsang.
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“Children need to recognize these 1,000 words with this automatic recognition to build their reading fluency. And if you’re not able to read fluently, you’re going to have a very difficult time comprehending because all of your brain power is going to decoding the words,” she said.
“My favorite part of reading is learning new words and helping people learn,” said eight-year-old Allie Fryson.
Fryson meets with her coach Molly Summers weekly.
“If you can catch them early and teach them really the magic and the fun in reading, it makes it a lot easier down the road,” said Summers.
“They’re not ever going to get to a point where they don’t get stuck on words. It’s an issue of what strategy to use when you do get stuck. Being a problem solver,” she added.
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Our anonymous donor wanted to give Arise2Read a check for $1,000 for their hard work. When you add games, encouragement and strategic problem solving to learning how to read, you build a solid reading foundation. A true community changer.