Message from Literacy Team

Happy News It's my (Jenessa)'s turn to share a life update... My boyfriend Kushmin put a ring on it! I will officially be Mrs Cheema next March. ;) Any local wedding vendor recommendations welcome! Other happy news- we will be on school campuses in the Fall!! We could use some help prepping kits to get ready. See more and sign up here. Stay cool and hope to see you soon! Blessings, Jenessa and Erika  Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. ~1st John 3:18 

Upcoming Dates

Little Book Bin Installations—Volunteers Needed We are excited to see three elementary schools receive a Little Book Bin (former Fresno Bee boxes transformed into a Little Free Library)! Volunteers will pass out book bags to elementary school children in a drive by event, hosted by Reading Heart and Fresno Unified. Sign up on Serve Fresno.

Literacy Kit Prepping—Volunteers Needed We will be back in classrooms in the Fall! Woohoo!!! We could use some help organizing and preparing materials. Kids 8+ welcome to help too! Sign up on Serve Fresno.

Literacy News & Resources

Spanish Sight Word Videos One of our interns Leslie Hernandez created these great videos to help our Dual-immersion students practicar palabras de vista (sight words)!

Strategies for Teaching Students How to Read

During our End of Year Celebration, three ELA coaches from Fresno Unified gave an excellent presentation on how to help students with sight words and other reading techniques. Must watch here!

Spring 2021 Data We gathered data from a sample of students in both February and May of this year. This chart shows students' average sight word knowledge and growth in each grade level between those months. Well done mentors and kids!

Partnership Resources

Summer Activities

Summer Fun! Bored kids at home? Check out this Blog we put together of various events and activities going on in Fresno and online!

Fun Zoo Day!

Thanks to the City of Fresno, we were able to give away 300 tickets to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo! So fun to see to many of you and your students there!

Literacy Mentor Spotlight

Our spotlight this month is ALL of you! Thank you for persevering through online teaching and learning. Kids, families, and teachers are so grateful for your support, dedication, and love. Check out this sweet video (made by our intern Lilianna Alvarez) and the graphic below- both showing highlights of the 2021-22 School year!