Product Description

Lester and Reba not only provide us with a bold new framework for weaving read-alouds seamlessly into the fabric of the classroom, they also show us how to do it with grace and art. At the heart of their work are richly annotated lists of read-alouds for a variety of purposes. The authors' intimate knowledge and experience with these books make the annotations sing.
- Lucy Calkins

Open this book and invite the richness, the excitement of story and poetry into your classroom every single day. Take note, chapter by chapter, of the endless possibilities and ways to steer your students toward the powerful enchantment of books. Laminack and Wadsworth ask you to never forget "the power of literacy in the lives of learners," and this book will serve as a perfect reminder, time and time again.
- Rebecca Kai Dotlich, author of Lemonade Sun and Other Poems of Summer

The read-aloud of yesteryear was often limited in its ambition and application - a well-intended routine for getting students' attention or settling them down. But today's read-aloud is a vibrant, deliberate part of good teaching, an essential, effective strategy for introducing sophisticated ideas to young learners throughout the school day by immersing them in rich language and literate behaviors. The influence of reading aloud can be profound, and Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature shows you how to plan for and implement the read-aloud for maximum instructional effect.

Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature revolutionizes the read-aloud. Lester Laminack and Reba Wadsworth lay out six types of read-alouds each of which targets key instructional goals, including:

• addressing standards in the curriculum
• building community
• demonstrating the craft of writing
• enriching vocabulary
• enticing children to read independently
• modeling fluent reading.

Whether you read aloud once a day, or six times a day, Laminack and Wadsworth give you all the strategies you need to make the read-aloud a successful and effective way to lead your students to new understandings. You'll discover how, why, and when to read aloud, and find both specific suggestions for planning instruction around it and numerous ideas for entry points into it. Best of all, they provide an extensively annotated list of four hundred titles to use with each of the six types of read-aloud, including ample suggestions for how each fits within the reading and writing curriculum.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #154796 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-15
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Lester L. Laminack is a recently retired professor from the department of Birth-Kindergarten, Elementary and Middle Grades Education, at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina where he taught graduate and undergraduate courses in literacy education. He is the recipient of two awards for excellence in teaching at WCU, the Botner Superior Teaching Award and the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award. Lester is an active member of the National Council of Teachers of English and served three years as co-editor of the NCTE journal Primary Voices. He also served as a teaching editor for the magazine Teaching K-8 and wrote the Parent Connection column (2000-2002). He is currently editor of the Children's Book Review Department of the NCTE journal Language Arts (2003-2006). He is a former member of the Whole Language Umbrella Governing Board, a former member of the Governing Board and Secretary of the North Carolina Association for the Education of Young Chi

Reba Wadsworth, a former elementary classroom teacher and guidance counselor, is now in her thirteenth year as an elementary principal, currently at Woodmeade Elementary School in Decatur, Alabama. She has conducted numerous literacy workshops at the local, state, and national level for administrators and teachers. She has worked as an adjunct professor of literacy for three north Alabama universities at both the undergraduate and graduate level. In addition, Reba was named the 20052006 Alabama Administrator of the Year for Leadership in Literacy by the Alabama Reading Association.

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Customer Reviews

Truly useful to any classroom educator of elementary age children
Expertly co-authored by Lester L. Laminack (Professor Emeritus of Literacy Education, Western Carolina University) and Reba M. Wadsworth (Elementary Principal, Woodmeade Elementary School, Decatur, Alabama), Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature: Making The Most Of Read-Alouds Across The Day is a simply wonderful, 234-page collection of aptly summarized, endlessly exciting, valuable literary contributions that teach best when to read aloud in a classroom setting. It is also a creative textbook that centers its mission on ways to teach by reading aloud as a part of an instructional curriculum. There are many specific suggestions and numerous clear benefits to be gained from the use of these suggested and tested approaches. As an educator's tool, Learning Under The Influence Of Language And Literature is first rate. It could also be useful to other types of educators, such as librarians and homeschooling parents, in their book choices. The title page of Learning Under The Influence Of Language And Literature informs the reader that is a reference compilation that "includes 400 recommended titles with annotations". By addressing standards in the curriculum, enriching vocabulary, modeling fluent reading, and enticing children to read independently, Learning Under The Influence Of Language And Literature is truly useful to any classroom educator of elementary age children. Even more important, it underlines the value of daily experience of the rich joys of reading aloud.