Activities I can do with a five year old to teach him how to read?

First of all, yes, you are the tutor, but his parents need to do their share. Expecting you to teach him to read with one hour of tutoring, no matter if it is daily or weekly, is unrealistic. The first step if for the boy to master letter sounds and some high frequency words. Play games like memory, bingo, or go fish (use letter cards and high frequency word cards) to help him master these skills. You can find a good pre-primer list of high frequency words online. He also needs to learn to blend sounds to read words. Start with simple 3 sound words (cat, hat, mop, cop, etc.). Flash cards are good, but try to make any activity hands on, engaging, and fun. Make is seem like a game. Mom and dad need to reinforce these skills. Have the child practice reading simple pre-readers (ex., "I can see the cat, I can see the dog, I can see the fish"...books like that. Let him practice reading the same book until he is fluent. You will need to work on concepts about print, too...does he understand the concepts of letter, word, sentence? You can work on these skills when reading simple books...but not every time you read. You don't want to destroy the enjoyment of reading or the comprehension. Finally, mom and dad need to read books aloud to him and ask him comprehension questions.