Multisensory Monday: Pull to Read

This simple craft is a wonderful way to make word work fun and have students practice their decoding and fluency skills! I found it online a while back and used it in both my classroom and 1-on-1 tutoring sessions.

Materials Needed

• Paper towel rolls (flattened)
• Paint stirrer sticks
• Scrapbook paper
• White cardstock 
• Mailing labels
• Glue stick
• Marker

Make it Multisensory

1. Have students begin by picking a scrapbook paper to cover their paper towel roll. It’s not a necessity, but it helps create that “buy-in” as students personalize their own (plus, it helps it look nicer). 
2. Cut the paper to fit the length of the roll and then fold the paper around it. Students can then glue the end, so it stays on the roll. 
3. Then, stick on a mailing label to the one end of the roll, where the student will be moving the paint stick out. On this mailing label, you could add a variety of things (depending on the concept you are teaching at that time: ending consonant blends, syllables, second compound words, suffixes, etc.)
4. On the paint stirrer, glue the cardstock onto the stirrer stick. On the cardstock, write several example words or syllables (though you are only adding the onset) spaced out along the stick. 
5. After you have your stick and paper towel roll ready, insert the stick into the roll, and you are prepared to go! 

Once you are ready, you can have your students slide the stick out of the roll, matching the onset of the word or syllable with the rime. Have your students read it and then continue to pull the stick further out, making a new word. Repeated readings of the words will help develop their fluency! Enjoy! 

Written by Tony Puente.