Instructional Read Aloud & Lester Laminack

On Friday at the University of Maine, Lester Laminack presented a passionate workshop about reading aloud in the classroom. He was an amazing presenter and retold the story of the Wizard of Oz as an opener. I was taken away by his language, underlying messages, and showmanship. 

Lester L. has written picture books and teacher resources. I have many of his books and would be happy to share. If you haven't read Saturday and Teacakes or Snow Day!, please come and borrow them. His resources offer lists and summaries of books for read alouds that build community, teach craft, inspire with strong language, and motivate children to want to hear more.

Lester believes that reading aloud should happen at least six times every day and his answer to the comment that there just isn't time in the day is that you can't afford not to. Read alouds provide much needed background knowledge for all content areas and there is a very long list of other positives that I will share later. He also says that reading aloud should inspire, invest and be intentional (planned).

There was so much more to share about the power of an instructional read aloud, so stay tuned...