Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature: Making the Most of Read-Alouds Across the Day

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 applicationa 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.

Lester L. Laminack is Professor Emeritus at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina where he received two awards for excellence in teaching. Lester is now a full-time writer and consultant working with schools throughout the United States and abroad. He is an active member of the National Council of Teachers of English and has served three years as coeditor of the NCTE journal Primary Voices and as editor of the Children's Book Review Department of the NCTE journal Language Arts (2003-2006). He also served as a teaching editor for the magazine Teaching K-8 and wrote the Parent Connection column (2000-2002). He is a former member of the Whole Language Umbrella Governing Board, the Governing Board and Secretary of the North Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children, and the Board of Directors for the Center for the Expansion of Language and Thinking. He served as the Basic Reading Consultant to Literacy Volunteers of America from 1987 through 2001 and is a former member of the Board of Directors of Our Children's Place. Lester has served as editor (2017) of the Writing Department for the ILA Journal Reading Teacher.

Lester's academic publications consist of several books including Learning with Zachary (Scholastic), Spelling in Use (NCTE), Volunteers Working with Young Readers (NCTE), andhis contributions to The Writing Workshop: Working Through the Hard Parts (NCTE), Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature (Heinemann), Reading Aloud Across the Curriculum (Heinemann), Climb Inside a Poem (Heinemann), Cracking Open the Author's Craft (Scholastic), Unwrapping the Read Aloud (Scholastic), Bullying Hurts: Teaching Kindness Through Read Alouds and Guided Conversations (Heinemann), The Writing Teacher's Troubleshooting Guide (Heinemann), and Writers ARE Readers: Flipping Reading Strategies into Writing Instruction (Heinemann). In addition, he has several articles published in journals such as The Reading Teacher, Science and Children, Language Arts, Primary Voices, and Young Children. Lester is also the author of several children's books including The Sunsets of Miss Olivia Wiggins, Trevor's Wiggly-Wobbly Tooth, Saturdays and Tea Cakes, Jake's 100^th Day of School, Snow Day!, Three Hens and a Peacock (2012 Children's Choice K-2 Book of the Year Award), and The King of Bees in addition to a forthcoming nonfiction poetry collection, Voices for Civil Rights all published by Peachtree Publishers. His newest books for teachers, The Ultimate Read-Aloud Resource: Making Every Moment Intentional and Instructional with Best Friend Books (Scholastic) and The Best Friend Fiction Collection (Scholastic) are available now.

Lester currently lives in Whittier, North Carolina with his husband Steve and their two dogs, Bailey and Sora. They are the proud grandparents of an adorable little girl named Everette. You can connect with Lester on his website, LesterLaminack.com, or on Twitter at @Lester_Laminack.

b />Reba Wadsworth, a former elementary classroom teacher, guidance counselor, and principal, now works as an independent consultant. She has conducted numerous literacy workshops at the local, state, national and international level. Reba currently serves as a national consultant for Booksource, Inc. and Developmental Studies, conducting workshops across the United States. She is coauthor of Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature, Reading Aloud Across the Curriculum, and Bullying Hurts.