Reading aloud to children was the focus of the Watson Literacy Center’s “Powerful Texts” series event held Oct. 18. The workshop was conducted by Lester Laminack – whose credentials precede him.
Laminack’s circulum vitae – which is similar to a resume – includes but is not limited to authoring six children’s books including “The Sunsets of Miss Olivia Wiggins”, “Trevor’s Wiggly-Wobbly Tooth”, “Saturday and Tea Cakes”, “Jake’s 100th Day of School”, “Snow Day!” and his latest work – “Three Hens and a Peacock”, all from Peachtree Publishers.
During the workshop, Laminack stressed the importance of cadence, pacing and inflection in the voice of the reader.
“This will enable your audience to transpose images, sounds and smells in their impressionable imaginations,” he said. “Consequentially, leaving an indelible impression in their memories.”
These are three important characteristics of reading out loud, Laminack stressed. “Narrative is the current in our brain’s that all writing floats on,” he said.
Before Laminack concluded, he expressed one more revelation he had learned over the years.
“Why is it so hard for us to recall information we’ve read from textbooks as opposed to novels,” he said. “It’s because textbooks lack emotion.”
To learn more about Laminack, visit his website www.lesterlaminack.com.
