About Us

“Just Press Play” by TeacherSidekick, LLC is a supplemental reading program for parents and teachers to utilize alongside direct instruction. It is ideal for independent centers, tutoring, at-home practice, substitute teachers, differentiation and more! The best part is there is NO PREP! Each page has a QR code which links to a corresponding instructional video. The videos guide students through paper and pencil practice, PLUS phonics and phonemic awareness skills that cannot be completed on paper. Students can participate, respond, and self-check as the video provides the correct answer.

  • Teacher Testimonial

    “I have been using these sight word songs for for a few years with my Kindergarten classes. They are fun and very helpful! I teach students how to sound out sight words using the heart word method when there are irregular parts of the words, and these songs are a helpful tool for a multi-sensory approach to teaching them. The kids love watching the video and singing along, and these songs especially help my struggling readers. When they are having difficulty recalling a word and the irregular word parts are making it difficult to sound out, as soon as they start singing the songs they can figure out the word. The emojis also provide a fun way to explain the digraphs and vowel teams to the students. I absolutely love these songs as a tool for teaching sight words in Kindergarten!”

    -Dezzarea H.

  • Parent Testimonial

    “Both of my kids loved learning to read with the help of the emoji friends. My daughter is currently in kindergarten and she is able to follow along with the directions and complete the activities independently. She is very engaged during them and thinks the teacher and videos are so much fun. Her reading and spelling skills have progressed so much since using the emoji friends, especially with vowel teams and digraphs. She has become such a confident reader and writer with the help of this program. As a parent, one of the best things about emoji friends is that my kids can use this totally on their own, with no need for me to supervise! I feel this program would benefit any child from beginner to advanced reader. The videos are so cute and catchy they even kept my second grader entertained and the emoji friends have stuck with him for years.”

    -Melissa F.

  • Parent Testimonial

    “When our child comes home and excitedly gives specific examples and details about what she learned from Emoji Friends it speaks volumes to us as parents and shows us that this program is effective. It encourages us to want to use it as a teaching tool at home as well 🤩.”

    -Kasey K.

  • Teacher Testimonial

    “I have been using the Just Press Play worksheets and Teacher Sidekick videos with my Kindergarten class. I have noticed them using the techniques and tools that are taught in their own writing! Even my struggling readers/writers have been noticing the digraph patterns more frequently in words, and they love showing me when they find them in stories. Many of the students get excited to figure out the secret code and enjoy the games presented in the videos. We use the emoji friends on our word wall and refer to them daily! “

    -Vanessa D.

  • Parent Testimonial

    “Emoji Friends has been such an instrumental learning tool in my 6 year old’s kindergarten curriculum. The characters and images have provided my son the opportunity to retain vital sounds that continue to improve his reading. He comes home from school excited to show the sounds he’s learned and his reading progression. Thank you for this wonderful tool and resource!”

    -Brooke E.