Do you read bedtime stories to your children, your nieces and nephews, your grandchildren? If you do, Lester Laminack can help you learn to make them come alive. The payoff could be powerful learning experiences for the children who listen to the stories you read.
Laminack is an award winning teacher, the writer of six nationally known books for children, and he is also a gifted reader. He will be conducting a workshop on reading stories aloud for parents, teachers, and volunteers from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 18 in the Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel. The workshop is free. It is sponsored by Park University’s Dorothy Harper Watson Literacy Center.
The workshop is titled “Unwrapping the Read Aloud: Making Every Read Aloud an Intentional Act.” Kathy Lofflin, director of the Watson Literacy Center, urges students who are also parents, school volunteers or who just read children’s stories to their family members, to take advantage of this opportunity to learn the art from a nationally known expert, and free of charge.
“Lester Laminack is especially good at conveying the joy and fun that makes a good read-aloud powerful,” explains Lofflin. “I guarantee that those who hear him speak and read aloud at this event will be captivated by his approach and his infectious enthusiasm.
“Reading aloud with a caring adult can be one of the most powerful learning experiences in a child’s life. We know that children who have been read to are more likely to learn to love reading. The love of reading leads to more reading, which leads to getting better at reading.”
Lofflin says Laminack plans to provide demonstrations of the art of reading aloud with specific attention to tone, intensity, pacing and mood.
Laminack is the author of six children’s books: The Sunsets of Miss Olivia Wiggins, Trevor’s Wiggly-Wobbly Tooth, Saturdays and Tea Cakes, Jake’s 100th Day of School, Snow Day! and Three Hens and a Peacock, all from Peachtree Publishers. He also has written numerous publications for educators, including Unwrapping the Read Aloud: Making Every Read Aloud Intentional, by Scholastic Press, and Bullying Hurts: Teaching Kindness Through Read Alouds and Guided Conversations, by Heinemann. More information about Laminack is available at www.lesterlaminack.com.
The workshop is the most recent event in the Literacy Center’s Powerful Texts Series. Park students, faculty and staff members can reserve a seat for the event by contacting Lofflin at [email protected] . Reservations are not required but seating will be limited.
